Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum Ghrelin Levels and the Effects of Antidepressants in Major Depressive Disorder and Panic Disorder

Background: Two opposing models for the action of ghrelin in the behavioral responses to stress were recently proposed. Some studies suggest that an increase in ghrelin contributes to the mechanisms responsible for the development of stress-induced depression and anxiety, while others suggest that it helps minimize what otherwise would be more severe manifestations of depression and anxiety following stress. Methods: We measured serum ghrelin levels, Profile of Mood States (POMS) scores and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores in nonresponders (treatment-resistant patients; 30) and responders (38) with major depressive disorder (MDD), nonresponders (29) and responders (51) with panic disorder and 97 healthy controls. Results: The ghrelin concentration in nonresponders with MDD was higher than that of responders with MDD and normal controls. The ghrelin concentration in nonresponders with panic disorder was higher than that of normal controls. POMS vigor scores in patients with MDD and panic disorder were significantly decreased compared with those in healthy controls. Other POMS scores in patients with MDD and panic disorder were significantly increased compared with those of healthy controls. Trait and state anxiety of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory in MDD and panic disorder patients were higher than those in healthy controls. Conclusions: These results indicate that decreased serum ghrelin levels might be associated with antidepressant treatment to confer the maximum therapeutic effect in patients with MDD and panic disorder.
Using a Public Health Approach to Understand “Skipping” Snowmobiles in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada

Recommended Citation Giles, Audrey R. ; Lynch, Meghan; Stadig, Gwenyth S. ; Doucette Issaluk, Michelle; Darroch, Francine; and Strachan, Shaelyn (2014) "Using a Public Health Approach to Understand “Skipping” Snowmobiles in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada," International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education: Vol. 8 : No. 4 , Article 6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25035/ijare.08. 04.06 Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu. edu/ijare/vol8/iss4/6
Lipid profiles of patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction in a South African regional hospital

Background: Cardiovascular disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in South Africa and hyperlipidaemia is a major contributing modifiable risk factor. Objectives: To describe the lipid profiles of patients with acute myocardial infarction and to compare values with recommended target levels outlined in the South African Dyslipidaemia Guideline Consensus Statement. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients admitted with a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction to a regional hospital in Durban, South Africa, between 1 January and 31 December 2016. Patients had a non-fasting lipogram taken within the first 24 hours of admission. Results: We enrolled 126 subjects. The mean age was 57.6 (SD ± 9.4) years. One hundred and ten subjects (87.3%) met criteria for hyperlipidaemia. Previous statin therapy was associated with lower LDL-cholesterol values (3.43mmol/L vs. 4.03mmol/L, p=0.02), but only 9 (11.2%) of the 80 subjects on therapy (88.8%) fell below the levels recommended for their risk category by the South African Dyslipidaemia Guideline Consensus Statement. Overall, 23 subjects (18.3% of the entire study group) demonstrated LDL-C values at presentation that were below the recommended values. Conclusions: A high proportion of subjects presenting with acute myocardial infarction show evidence of suboptimal control of pre-existing hyperlipidaemia.
Genetic variation in relic and isolated populations of Chionanthus retusus (Oleaceae) of Tsushima Island and the Tono region, Japan

Genetic variation in an endangered tree species, Chionanthus retusus, was examined using enzyme electrophoresis. This species occurs in East Asia from Japan to Taiwan and southern China. In Japan, however, it occurs only in two restricted areas: at the northernmost tip of Tsushima Island between Japan and Korea, and in the eastern Gifu Prefecture (Tono region) of central Honshu. In the Tono region, the habitat of C. retusus is becoming fragmented under the influence of human activity and each stand contains a few individuals of C. retusus, while the population on Tsushima consists of approximately 1000 individuals. From the fossil evidence, C. retusus has been distributed continuously including the both two regions, and the present distribution is apparently relic in Japan. In contrast to the Tono population, the population of Tsushima seems to be stable. Comparing the genetic diversity and differentiation of the populations between these two regions should shed light on how a relic woody long-lived plant keeps and/or looses its genetic diversity, and how a population differentiates from other disjunct populations. Allozyme electrophoresis of 18 loci for the Tono region indicated that 22.2% of the loci are polymorphic (P) with a gene diversity of (h) 0.087. The population of Tsushima has 38.9% polymorphic loci and a gene diversity of 0.149. We could not find any spatial genetic structure of C. retusus in the Tono region by spatial autocorrelation analysis. These results suggest that considerable genetic variation is still present in the Tono region and the influence of the recent habitat fragmentation seems not so large, yet. Because C. retusus is a long-lived tree, the population history may hinder the effect of the fragmentation at present. The genetic diversity (GST) between the populations of the Tono and Tsushima is 0.280, showing the genetic differentiation between these two regions has occurred.
Evolutionary determinants of modular societies in colobines

Modular societies are structurally characterized by nuclear one-male units (OMUs, or harems) embedded within larger relatively coherent social bands. Within the order Primates, modular societies are uncommon, found in only a few species, including humans. Asian colobines (Presbytini) principally form either unimale groups that forage independently and are often territorial, or modular associations, which range from tight bands composed of OMUs to loose neighborhoods of OMUs. A phylogenetic reconstruction of modularity in the Presbytini revealed that the single OMU pattern is probably the ancestral state while the modular pattern is derived. The selective forces favoring the evolution of modular societies have thus far been virtually unexplored. Although some ecological explanations cannot be ruled out at the moment due to lack of comparative and quantitative data, preliminary circumstantial evidence does not seem to support them. Instead, a social factor, bachelor threat, is consistent with many observations. This hypothesis argues that where the pressure from nonreproductive bachelor males is unusually high, OMUs aggregate as a means of decreasing the amount of harassment and the risk of takeovers and infanticide. A comparative test found an association between modular societies and bachelor threat, as proxied by sex ratio within social units. The concentration of modular systems in colobines may be due to their unusual ecology, which leads to unusually low intensity of scramble competition. Modular colobines rely more on nonlimiting ubiquitous resources than nonmodular ones and thus can afford to gather in bands. Moreover, by comparing the slopes of regressions between group size and daily travel distance for several groups of one modular and one nonmodular colobine, we found slopes in the nonmodular to be steeper by a factor 30, indicating that ecological constraints associated with scramble competition prevent higher level groupings in nonmodulars. Thus, modular sociality in Asian colobines may have arisen because both social benefits are substantial and ecological costs are relatively low. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.
CAD システムの提案

In recent years, convolutional neural networks (CNN) have found active application in the field of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD). Typically, general-purpose, high performance detectors are designed by conducting machine learning provided with comprehensive sets of case images having different kinds of variations. The reasoning behind this is that images not included in learning are not expected to be successfully detected. In fact, a comparison of CNN trained using only relatively typical cases and CNN trained using a comprehensive set of cases showed superior performance by the latter. Such is also expected to be the case in the commercial release of CAD. This is because the cases used in development may not encompass the cases at the medical facilities that will actually operate the system. In response to this situation, this paper proposes a self-evolving CAD system that incorporates a relearning function. It is not possible to upgrade the detectors of previous CAD systems following their commercial release. As a remedy, we propose a mechanism for upgrading the detector, accomplished by endowing the CAD system with a misrecognition correction function that uses interpretation report information (i.e., electronic medical records), and performing relearning after certain data is applied. This function provided improved performance compared to when relearning is not performed. Moreover, multiple relearning resulted in gradual improvements, demonstrating a process by which the system evolved into a CAD system matched to the involved medical facility.
Building Competitive Advantage through a Global Network of Capabilities

Facility location decisions made by many U.S. manufacturers during the past decade yielded disappointing results. These decisions were typically tactical, stop-gap actions which have resulted, at best, in short-lived benefits. Many firms moved manufacturing overseas to obtain a factor cost advantage, only to find that the cost advantage was fleeting, and that the distances the move introduced between manufacturing and other key groups (e.g., customers, suppliers, development, and sales) had constrained their ability to compete. This article explores the impact that facility location has on the critical capabilities that define a company9s ability to compete. It discusses the shortcomings of the "traditional" approach to facility location, which ignores the internal workings of the company, and outlines a new capability-centered approach that creates sustainable benefits by fostering the development and growth of the unique set of critical capabilities required by a company9s strategy, customers, and competitive environment.
Housing, Consumption, and Credit Constraints

I test the credit-market effects of housing wealth shocks by estimating the consumption elasticity of house price shocks among households in different age quintiles. Younger households face faster expected income growth and hence would like to borrow more than older households. I estimate consumption elasticities from housing wealth by age quintile to be {4; 0; 3; 8; 3} percent. As predicted by theory, the youngest group has a higher elasticity of consumption than the next two age quintiles. That the consumption of the age quintile on the verge of retirement is responsive to housing wealth is also not surprising: I show that these households are likeliest to \\"downsize\\" their house and thus realize any capital gains.
Substance use Disorders among Men in Prison: A New Zealand Study

Objective: This study set out to determine the extent of alcohol and drug disorder among male prisoners prior to their incarceration in a New Zealand prison. Method: Sections of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule that assess alcohol and drug disorders according to DSM-III criteria were administered to 100 sequential new arrivals at a male medium/minimum security prison. Results: Eighty-one percent of the prisoners had a lifetime alcohol disorder, and 39% of them had symptoms in the 6 months prior to incarceration. Half of the prisoners had met criteria for an alcohol-dependence syndrome. Thirty percent had a lifetime drug use disorder with 14% showing symptoms in the last 6 months prior to incarceration. One-quarter had been drug dependent. After adjustment of the lifetime prevalence estimates for the differing age distribution within the prison, alcohol disorder was more than twice as common among prisoners as in the general population, and drug use disorder was eight times as common. Conclusions: Since high rates of alcohol and drug disorder are found among sentenced prisoners, both in the 6 months prior to incarceration and over their lifetime, resources within the prison may need to be directed towards minimising the harm from substance use disorder and associated risk behaviour.
Comparison of atovaquone and azithromycin with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for the prevention of serious bacterial infections in children with HIV infection.

BACKGROUND Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ) has been used extensively for the prevention of Pneumocystis carinii (also referred to as "Pneumocystis jiroveci") pneumonia (PCP) and other opportunistic infections in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children. Because the efficacy of TMP-SMZ for treatment of bacterial infections is limited, it is sometimes poorly tolerated, and there is risk of emergence of drug-resistant strains associated with widespread use, we evaluated a regimen that included atovaquone and azithromycin. METHODS A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was designed to determine whether atovaquone-azithromycin had equivalent efficacy to TMP-SMZ for the prevention of serious bacterial infections and to compare the long-term tolerance, PCP breakthrough rates, and nonserious bacterial infection rates among HIV-infected children aged 3 months to 19 years. Children qualified for PCP prophylaxis (on the basis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations) were randomized to receive atovaquone-azithromycin or TMP-SMZ daily for >or=2 years. RESULTS Data from 366 of the 369 eligible patients (median duration of follow-up, 3 years) showed that the estimated rates of serious bacterial infection-related events were lower among atovaquone-azithromycin recipients than among TMP-SMZ recipients (17.3 vs. 24.2 events per 100 patient-years; difference, 6.9 events per 100 patient-years; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.22 to 14.12). Rates for all end points (serious bacterial infection, PCP, Mycobacterium avium complex infection, and serious and nonserious bacterial infection-related deaths) were 19.7 and 27.7 events per 100 patient-years, respectively (difference, 7.9 events per 100 patient-years; 95% CI, -0.28 to 15.54 events per 100 patient-years). The results marginally favored atovaquone-azithromycin therapy statistically. Atovaquone-azithromycin and TMP-SMZ therapies had similar adverse event profiles. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that, in HIV-infected children, atovaquone-azithromycin is as effective as TMP-SMZ for the prevention of serious bacterial infections and is similarly tolerated.
Affective Dispositions and PTSD Symptom Clusters in Female Interpersonal Trauma Survivors

Interpersonal trauma (IPT) against women can have dire psychological consequences including persistent maladaptive changes in the subjective experience of affect. Contemporary literature has firmly established heightened negative affect (NA) as a risk and maintenance factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the relationship between NA and PTSD symptoms is not well understood within IPT survivors, the majority of whom are female, as much of this research has focused on combat veterans. In addition, the connection between positive affect (PA) and PTSD symptoms has yet to be examined. With increased emphasis on “negative alterations in cognitions and mood . ” as an independent symptom cluster of PTSD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5), understanding the relationship between self-reported affectivity and the classic PTSD symptom clusters may be increasingly useful in differentiating symptom presentations of trauma-related psychopathology. The current study directly compared self-reported trait NA and PA with total severity and frequency cluster scores from the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) in 54 female survivors of IPT who met criteria for PTSD. Results identify NA (but not PA) as a consistent predictor of total PTSD symptoms and, specifically, re-experiencing symptoms.
Evolving Mechanisms of Action of Beta Blockers: Focus on Nebivolol

Beta (β) blockers are widely used for treatment of cardiovascular and noncardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, their mechanism of action is not fully understood and differs significantly among agents in this class. Chronic increases in adrenergic activity in heart failure result in desensitization of cardiac β-adrenergic receptor signal transduction and adverse effects on myocytes. By reducing heart rate and decreasing myocardial workload, the pathologic remodeling of the heart may be reversed with β-blocking agents. Among β-blockers, there are clear differences in pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties. Newer β-blockers differ from older agents with respect to β-adrenoceptor affinity and selectivity and partial agonist activity, which may affect their mechanism of action and be important in clinical use.The first β-antagonist compounds were nonselective; the next generation of β-blockers was selective for β1-receptors. The most recent β-blockers may be nonselective or selective, and they have the additional ancillary property of vasodilation. Nebivolol is among the newer third-generation β-blockers. It is unique in the class, since apart from its cardioselectivity, it also produces nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation. As a result, its hemodynamic profile is clearly different from those of traditional β-blockers. This review will evaluate this class of agents and the basis for their differences in clinical use.
Relationships between Alexithymia, Emotional Control, and Quality of Life in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background: Although the constructs of alexithymia and emotional control have been associated with physical health, the relationship between these constructs is unclear and their influence on health-related quality of life has not been investigated previously. This study examined the relationships between alexithymia, emotional control, and quality of life in 74 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods: The subjects completed the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Emotional Expression and Control Scale (EEC), and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) for assessing quality of life. Results: The TAS-20 correlated negatively and significantly with the IBDQ global score and with subscales assessing bowel symptoms, systemic symptoms, and emotional functioning; the emotional control subscale of the EEC correlated positively and significantly with these measures. Although the TAS-20 correlated significantly and negatively with the emotional control subscale, alexithymia and quality of life scores were unrelated to subscales of the EEC assessing tendencies to either hold back or express emotions. A hierarchical stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that alexithymia and, to a lesser extent, emotional control play a role in predicting quality of life in patients with IBD. Conclusions: Alexithymia and emotional control are negatively related constructs and each construct has an independent influence on the subjective health status of patients with IBD.
Visual Illusions as a Tool for Dissociating Seeing From Thinking: A Reply to Braddick (2018)

Researchers in our field—like pretty much everyone else—seem to have a collective fascination with visual illusions. A recentPerception editorial, however, wonders whether this is a good idea (Braddick, 2018). In particular, while acknowledging plenty of useful research on (and inspired by) various individual illusions, Braddick asks whether it is really helpful to identify illusions more broadly as a category: “what have we gained by putting them in the same box . ” (p. 1). Braddick’s suggestion is that doing so is a mistake motivated primarily by a superficial “innocent pleasure,” but that illusions as a category are actually “deeply unhelpful for science” (p. 1). In an explicit attempt to be provocative, Braddick even suggests that focusing on illusions as a natural kind (i.e. as a privileged grouping that reflects something important about the structure of the mind) is an “infantile disorder. ” In this respect, Braddick’s editorial succeeds admirably: we are provoked! In particular, we are provoked to explain why we disagree: we think that “illusions” are a natural kind whose existence has profound implications for our (scientific! ) understanding of seeing, thinking, and especially how seeing and thinking do and do not interact. This is a theme that has figured quite a lot in recent debates about how cognition may influence perception, but curiously it was not mentioned either in Braddick’s editorial or in subsequent defenses of the importance of illusions (e.g., Shapiro, 2018; Todorovic, 2018).
Gendered Educational Participation and Attainment in South Africa

Across much of the developing world, and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular, there are large gender disparities in educational participation and achievement. Educating girls has powerful externalities, which, if scaled, can act as a catalyst for socioeconomic development. It is therefore important to understand the reasons for the widespread gender disparity in education. South Africa appears to be unusual in that it has successfully achieved gender parity in educational enrolment. This paper finds that South Africa’s gender parity in enrolment is not as unique as it might seem. Whilst it is distinctive geographically, in comparison with most African countries, it is not so distinctive economically. Other middleincome countries in Africa and elsewhere tend also to have achieved gender parity in education. Over time, also, South Africa seems to be a typical middle income country in terms of its gender disparity in education. The paper also demonstrates that girls’ success in terms of educational enrolment and attainment is matched by girls’ superior test scores and record in grade progression.