Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors associated with nonattendance at clinical medicine scheduled outpatient appointments in a university general hospital

Introduction Nonattendance at scheduled outpatient appointments for primary care is a major health care problem worldwide. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of nonattendance at scheduled appointments for outpatients seeking primary care, to identify associated factors and build a model that predicts nonattendance at scheduled appointments. Methods A cohort study of adult patients, who had a scheduled outpatient appointment for primary care, was conducted between January 2010 and July 2011, at the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires. We evaluated the history and characteristics of these patients, and their scheduling and attendance at appointments. Patients were divided into two groups: those who attended their scheduled appointments, and those who did not. We estimated the odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), and generated a predictive model for nonattendance, with logistic regression, using factors associated with lack of attendance, and those considered clinically relevant. Alternative models were compared using Akaike’s Information Criterion. A generation cohort and a validation cohort were assigned randomly. Results Of 113,716 appointments included in the study, 25,687 were missed (22.7%; 95% CI: 22.34%–22.83%). We found a statistically significant association between nonattendance and age (OR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.99–0.99), number of issues in the personal health record (OR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.98–0.99), time between the request for and date of appointment (OR: 1; 95% CI: 1–1), history of nonattendance (OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 1.07–1.07), appointment scheduled later than 4 pm (OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.24–1.35), and specific days of the week (OR: 1.00; 95% CI: 1.06–1.1). The predictive model for nonattendance included characteristics of the patient requesting the appointment, the appointment request, and the actual appointment date. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the predictive model in the generation cohort was 0.892 (95% CI: 0.890–0.894). Conclusion Evidence related to patient characteristics, and the identification of appointments with a higher likelihood of nonattendance, should promote guided strategies to reduce the rate of nonattendance, as well as to future research on this topic. The use of predictive models could further guide management strategies to reduce the rate of nonattendance.
Maternal and neonatal outcomes of macrosomic pregnancies

Summary Background To compare maternal and neonatal outcomes of term macrosomic and adequate for gestational age (AGA) pregnancies. Material/Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on all term singleton macrosomic (birth weight ≥4000 g) and AGA (birth weight >10th percentile and <4000 g) pregnancies delivered at our hospital between 2004 and 2008. Data collected included maternal age, gestational age at delivery, mode of delivery, birth weight, fetal gender, maternal and neonatal complications. Comparisons were made between macrosomic and AGA pregnancies and between different severities of macrosomia (4000–4250 g, 4250–4500 g and ≥4500 g). Results The study population comprised of 34,685 pregnancies. 2077 neonates had birth weight ≥4000 g. Maternal age and gestational age at delivery were significantly higher for macrosomic neonates. Significantly more macrosomic neonates were born by cesarean section, and were complicated with shoulder dystocia, neonatal hypoglycemia, and had longer hospitalization period (both in vaginal and cesarean deliveries). Specifically, the odds ratio (OR) relative to AGA pregnancies for each macrosomic category (4000–4250 g, 4250–4500 g and ≥4500 g) of shoulder dystocia was 2.37, 2.24, 7.61, respectively, and for neonatal hypoglycemia 4.24, 4.41, 4.15, respectively. The risk of post partum hemorrhage was statistically increased when birth weight was >4500 g (OR=5.23) but not for birth weight between 4000–4500 g. No differences were found in the rates of extensive perineal lacerations between AGA and the different macrosomic groups. Conclusions Macrosomia is associated with increased rate of cesarean section, shoulder dystocia, neonatal hypoglycemia, and longer hospitalization, but not associated with excessive perineal tears. Increased risk of PPH was found in the >4500g group.
Breaking the Mold: Lessons Learned from a Teacher Education Program’s Attempt to Innovate

ABSTRACT The rationale, process, critical features, and lessons learned by faculty members during the redesign and implementation of our previously existing special education teacher education program into an innovative program integrating research-supported effective teacher education practices are described in this article. We begin with the rationale for our revised program, including the research underpinnings, and then outline the process used to gain feedback from multiple stakeholders about elements from the previous program that were working, needed to be changed, and should be added. The redesigned program is presented, along with a description of the initial conceptual model that drove the innovation, the curriculum, and the instructional delivery format. We end with a discussion of lessons learned and recommendations for others interested in innovating their teacher education programs, regardless of area of emphasis.
Risk of malignancy index in preoperative evaluation of pelvic masses.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of risk of malignancy index (RMI) based on a serum CA125 level, ultrasound findings and menopausal status in primary evaluation of patients with adnexal masses in daily clinical practice. METHODS One hundred and fifty one women with adnexal masses were enrolled. Ultrasound characteristics, menopausal status and serum CA125 level were documented preoperatively, and combined into the RMI afterwards. The sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of the RMI in prediction of ovarian cancer were calculated. RESULTS The RMI identified malignant cases more accurately than any individual criterion in diagnosing ovarian cancer. Using a cut-off level of 238 to indicate malignancy, the RMI showed a sensitivity of 89.5%, a specificity of 96.2%, a PPV of 77.3%, a NPV of 98.4% and an accuracy of 95.4%. CONCLUSION RMI is a simple, easily applicable method in the primary evaluation of patients with adnexal masses of high risk of malignancy, resulting in timely referal to gynecological oncology centers for suitable surgical operations.
Network information improves cancer outcome prediction

Disease progression in cancer can vary substantially between patients. Yet, patients often receive the same treatment. Recently, there has been much work on predicting disease progression and patient outcome variables from gene expression in order to personalize treatment options. Despite first diagnostic kits in the market, there are open problems such as the choice of random gene signatures or noisy expression data. One approach to deal with these two problems employs protein-protein interaction networks and ranks genes using the random surfer model of Google's PageRank algorithm. In this work, we created a benchmark dataset collection comprising 25 cancer outcome prediction datasets from literature and systematically evaluated the use of networks and a PageRank derivative, NetRank, for signature identification. We show that the NetRank performs significantly better than classical methods such as fold change or t-test. Despite an order of magnitude difference in network size, a regulatory and protein-protein interaction network perform equally well. Experimental evaluation on cancer outcome prediction in all of the 25 underlying datasets suggests that the network-based methodology identifies highly overlapping signatures over all cancer types, in contrast to classical methods that fail to identify highly common gene sets across the same cancer types. Integration of network information into gene expression analysis allows the identification of more reliable and accurate biomarkers and provides a deeper understanding of processes occurring in cancer development and progression.
The Changing Role of Salespeople and the Unchanging Feeling Toward Selling: Implications for the HEI Programs

Over the past five decades, several studies have shown that students’ reticence toward choosing a sales career has remained constant. Their lack of awareness and misconceptions regarding a sales job are two reasons behind this negative perception and lack of students’ “work readiness. ” Using a conceptual model on student intention to pursue a sales career, this study has two goals: (a) to understand whether students recognize the changes in the salesperson’s role and (b) to investigate whether new understanding of these changes has any impact on students’ feelings and perceptions regarding selling as a career choice. After a preliminary qualitative analysis, a survey was carried out in a European country (Italy). Findings suggest that students are partly aware of the salesperson’s role, but they have a limited understanding of the evolution that has taken place in that role. In addition, there emerges a new antecedent, Understanding the salesperson role, that has had a significant impact on students’ Feelings toward selling. This new antecedent stresses the relational aspects of the salesperson’s job, highlighting how that aspect has never been considered in previous studies. Different explanations are offered, along with educational and training implications for curricula, program content, and handbooks in HEI (Higher Education Institutes).
The incidence and clinical characteristics by gender differences in patients with Kikuchi–Fujimoto disease

Abstract Kikuchi–Fujimoto disease (KFD) is a rare, self-limiting disorder that typically affects the cervical lymph nodes (LNs). Although initially described in young women, KFD also occurs in men. There are no reports on the clinical manifestations and characteristics of male KFD patients. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the incidence of KFD among males, as well as the most frequent clinical characteristics of these patients. A retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed at a tertiary hospital of patients pathologically confirmed as having KFD from LN biopsy specimens. Clinical and laboratory data, and treatment outcomes of the enrolled patients, were analyzed by gender. A total of 254 patients diagnosed with KFD were enrolled. There were 189 females and 65 males (2.9:1). The mean age was 32.6 ± 11.3 years. Compared to the female patients, the males had more frequent manifestations of fever (48% vs 67%, P = 0.008), headache (9% vs 20%, P = 0.013), bilateral lymphadenopathy (31% vs 46%, P = 0.029), thrombocytopenia (14% vs 29%, P = 0.014), elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) (35% vs 78.4%, P < 0.001), elevated liver enzymes (15% vs 41%, P < 0.001), and elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (61% vs 80%, P = 0.021). Male patients had fewer autoimmune features (9% vs 2%, P = 0.043) and fewer positive antinuclear antibodies (32% vs 10%, P = 0.006). In this study, 25.6% of the enrolled patients were male, with a 2.9:1 female-to-male sex ratio. Male patients showed a distinctive profile characterized by a higher frequency of fever, headache, bilateral lymphadenopathy, and thrombocytopenia, as well as elevated liver enzymes, CRP, and LDH.
The body in grief

Abstract From theatre plays in ancient Greece to modern paintings, grief has been depicted as involving a specific bodily posture, a drooping head and a use of the hands to cover the eyes, mouth and forehead. In this article, I explore what role the body plays in the emotion of grief. It is argued that bereavement both makes an impression on the body, which in turn displays an expression of the emotion of grief. The dynamics of impression–expression are used to articulate a theory of grief as an emotion, which is at once cognitive (involving recognition of a situation) and communicative (expressing something to others). Appraisal theories of emotion come closest to acknowledge this dynamic, but needs a greater awareness of the role of the body. The appraisal process is not purely intellectual, but a wholly embodied affair, which is particularly evident in grief.
Left and right ventricular function in aortic stenosis patients 8 weeks post-transcatheter aortic valve implantation or surgical aortic valve replacement.

AIMS Knowledge of longitudinal left and right ventricular (LV and RV) function after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is scarce. We hypothesized that the longitudinal systolic biventricular function in aortic stenosis (AS) patients is affected differently by TAVI and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). METHODS AND RESULTS Thirty-three AS patients (all-TAVI group, age 81 ± 9 years, 18 female), with EuroSCORE 18 ± 9%, were accepted for TAVI. Seventeen of these patients were matched (by gender, age, and LV function) to 17 patients undergoing SAVR. Conventional echocardiographic parameters, systolic atrioventricular plane displacement (AVPD) at standard sites and peak systolic velocity (PSV) by pulsed tissue Doppler at basal RV free wall, LV lateral wall, and septum were studied before and 8 weeks after the procedure. Procedural success was 100%, and 30-day mortality 9%. In all TAVI patients, AVPD(lateral), PSV(lateral), AVPD(septal), and PSV(septal) increased (P< 0.001, 0.003, 0.006 and 0.002). When studying the matched patients postoperatively, both the SAVR and TAVI patients had increased PSV(lateral) and AVPD(lateral) (SAVR: P=0.03 and P=0.04, TAVI: P=0.04 and P=0.01). The PSV(RV) increased in the all-TAVI group (P=0.007), while the AVPD(RV) was unchanged. SAVR patients had decreased AVPD(RV) (P=0.001) and PSV(RV) (P=0.004), while the matched TAVI patients had unchanged RV function parameters. CONCLUSION An improvement in regional longitudinal LV function in the septal and lateral wall could be seen after TAVI. Among the matched patients, both the TAVI and SAVR patients seemed to improve LV function in the lateral wall. RV systolic function increased in TAVI patients, but was impaired in the matched SAVR group at the 8-week follow-up.
Multi-view Self-Paced Learning for Clustering

Exploiting the information from multiple views can improve clustering accuracy. However, most existing multi-view clustering algorithms are nonconvex and are thus prone to becoming stuck into bad local minima, especially when there are outliers and missing data. To overcome this problem, we present a new multi-view self-paced learning (MSPL) algorithm for clustering, that learns the multi-view model by not only progressing from 'easy' to 'complex' examples, but also from 'easy' to 'complex' views. Instead of binarily separating the examples or views into 'easy' and 'complex', we design a novel probabilistic smoothed weighting scheme. Employing multiple views for clustering and defining complexity across both examples and views are shown theoretically to be beneficial to optimal clustering. Experimental results on toy and real-world data demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Assessment of Evolving Focal Cerebral Ischemia Comparison With Histopathology in Rats

Background and Purpose This study was performed to document the progression of ischemic brain damage after middle cerebral artery occlusion in the rat using magnetic resonance imaging and histopathologic methods. Methods Cerebral ischemia was induced through permanent tandem occlusion of ipsilateral middle cerebral and common carotid arteries. The evolution of magnetic resonance imaging and histopathologic parameter changes was studied, both short term (1.5 to 8 hours) and long term (24 to 168 hours), in five specific brain regions within the middle cerebral artery territory. Results Significant changes in proton nuclear magnetic resonance spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times and the “apparent” diffusion coefficient of water could be detected within hours after the onset of permanent focal cerebral ischemia, whereas significant alterations in proton spin-density ratios were not apparent until approximately 48 hours. Histological changes were evident within 12 hours, with a significant loss of neurons seen in the most severely damaged regions at 7 days. Diffusion-weighted imaging was the most sensitive technique for visualizing acute ischemic alterations. The water diffusion coefficient was the only magnetic resonance imaging parameter studied to indicate significant alterations within the first 4 hours after arterial occlusion in all five brain regions. Conclusions The degree of change for a particular magnetic resonance imaging parameter appeared to be related to the location and extent of neuronal injury, with the most dramatic changes occurring within the areas displaying the most severe histological damage. These results indicate that complete specification of all brain regions affected by ischemic brain injury may require a combination of imaging strategies applied over a period of days and suggest the possibility of using magnetic resonance imaging to distinguish between permanent and reversible cell damage.
The Swedes and their history

Theaimofthisarticleistoanalyseadolescents’viewsofSwedishhistory. Asmallnumberofadultswerealsoincludedinthestudy. Theanalysisshowsthat,regardlessoftheageoftheinformants,Swedenisportrayedasanexceptionfromtheworldthroughitslegacyof alongpeace(inspiteofawar-torndistanthistory)andthroughitsenjoymentofprogress, democracyandprosperity. Weinterpretthisasaresultofahistorycultureinwhichschoolsaswellasotherinstitutionsproduceacommon,conflict-freehistory,whichmaybechallengedinanemergingneonationalistera.
Increased Vulnerability to Atrial Fibrillation in Transgenic Mice With Selective Atrial Fibrosis Caused by Overexpression of TGF-β1

Studies on patients and large animal models suggest the importance of atrial fibrosis in the development of atrial fibrillation (AF). To investigate whether increased fibrosis is sufficient to produce a substrate for AF, we have studied cardiac electrophysiology (EP) and inducibility of atrial arrhythmias in MHC-TGFcys33ser transgenic mice (Tx), which have increased fibrosis in the atrium but not in the ventricles. In anesthetized mice, wild-type (Wt) and Tx did not show significant differences in surface ECG parameters. With transesophageal atrial pacing, no significant differences were observed in EP parameters, except for a significant decrease in corrected sinus node recovery time in Tx mice. Burst pacing induced AF in 14 of 29 Tx mice, whereas AF was not induced in Wt littermates (P <0.01). In Langendorff perfused hearts, atrial conduction was studied using a 16-electrode array. Epicardial conduction velocity was significantly decreased in the Tx RA compared with the Wt RA. In the Tx LA, conduction velocity was not significantly different from Wt, but conduction was more heterogeneous. Action potential characteristics recorded with intracellular microelectrodes did not reveal differences between Wt and Tx mice in either atrium. Thus, in this transgenic mouse model, selective atrial fibrosis is sufficient to increase AF inducibility.
BODY PROPORTIONS OF ELITE MALE JUNIOR ROWERS IN RELATION TO COMPETITION LEVEL, ROWING STYLE AND BOAT TYPE

The performance of elite rowers is, beside others, determined by their physical characteristics. Anthropometric data for adult rowers emphasise the importance of body mass and body size for rowing performance. Little is known concerning the importance of proportional length development. At the 1997 World Junior Rowing Championships anthropometric measurements (body mass and 6 length dimensions) were performed on 383 elite male junior rowers. Based on these measurements several proportional length dimensions were calculated. Data on boat type were obtained by questionnaire and data on competition level were based on the results obtained during the championship. The results indicate that these rowers were heavier (Mean = 82.2±7.4 kg) and taller (Mean = 187.4±5.8 cm) and had a larger sitting height (Mean=96.8±3.2 cm) and longer legs (Mean= 90.7±3.8 cm) than a reference population. Finalists had significantly larger length dimensions than non-finalists and sweep rowers had in general larger length dimensions than scullers. No differences existed when the length dimensions were expressed proportional to the stature of the rowers. It can be concluded that elite junior rowers have larger length dimensions compared to less successful rowers, but these top athletes do not differentiate from the sub-elite athletes regarding proportional length development. Differences could be observed between sweep rowers and scullers with larger length dimensions in favour of sweep rowers.
Quantitative Ultrastructural Analysis of Hippocampal Excitatory Synapses

From three-dimensional reconstructions of CA1 excitatory synapses in the rodent hippocampus and in culture, we have estimated statistical distributions of active zone and postsynaptic density (PSD) sizes (average area ∼0.04 μm2), the number of active zones per bouton (usually one), the number of docked vesicles per active zone (∼10), and the total number of vesicles per bouton (∼200), and we have determined relationships between these quantities, all of which vary from synapse to synapse but are highly correlated. These measurements have been related to synaptic physiology. In particular, we propose that the distribution of active zone areas can account for the distribution of synaptic release probabilities and that each active zone constitutes a release site as identified in the standard quantal theory attributable to Katz (1969).
The Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC): Deep Near-Infrared Imaging and the Selection of Distant Galaxies

We present deep near-infrared JHK imaging of four 10′ × 10′ fields. The observations were carried out as part of the Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC) with ISPI on the CTIO 4 m telescope. The typical point-source limiting depths are J ∼ 22.5, H ∼ 21.5, and K ∼ 21 (5 σ; Vega). The effective seeing in the final images is ∼1.0″. We combine these data with MUSYC UBVRIz imaging to create K-selected catalogs that are unique for their uniform size, depth, filter coverage, and image quality. We investigate the rest-frame optical colors and photometric redshifts of galaxies that are selected using common color selection techniques, including distant red galaxies (DRGs), star-forming and passive BzKs, and the rest-frame UV-selected BM, BX, and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). These techniques are effective at isolating large samples of high-redshift galaxies, but none provide complete or uniform samples across the targeted redshift ranges. The DRG and BM/BX/LBG criteria identify populations of red and blue galaxies, respectively, as they were designed to do. The star-forming BzKs have a very wide redshift distribution, extending down to z ∼ 1, a wide range of colors, and may include galaxies with very low specific star formation rates. In comparison, the passive BzKs are fewer in number, have a different distribution of K magnitudes, and have a somewhat different redshift distribution. By combining either the DRG and BM/BX/LBG criteria, or the star-forming and passive BzK criteria, it appears possible to define a reasonably complete sample of galaxies to our flux limit over specific redshift ranges. However, the redshift dependence of both the completeness and sampled range of rest-frame colors poses an ultimate limit to the usefulness of these techniques.