Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Societal cost of rheumatoid arthritis patients in the US

Abstract Objective: To estimate comprehensive cost of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to society and individual stakeholders, including patients/employees, employers, family members/caregivers, and government. Research design and methods: Administrative claims databases covering privately insured and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in the US were used to compute the excess payer and beneficiary-paid costs per patient with RA compared with matched controls. Similarly, per-person excess costs for caregivers and uninsured patients with RA were estimated. Costs were estimated for other burdens, including costs of work-loss to employers, adaptations to home and work environments, lost on-the-job productivity, informal and hired care/household help, and job turnover costs. Intangible costs associated with quality-of-life deterioration were estimated based on legal system jury awards, whereas costs for premature mortality were based on lifetime earnings data. Per-capita cost estimates were weighted by the relevant population to estimate societal costs. Because data were incomplete, several assumptions were required; these assumptions could lead to an over- or under-estimation of cost burdens. Results: Annual excess health care costs of RA patients were $8.4 billion, and costs of other RA consequences were $10.9 billion. These costs translate to a total annual cost of $19.3 billion. From a stakeholder perspective, 33% of the total cost was allocated to employers, 28% to patients, 20% to the government, and 19% to caregivers. Adding intangible costs of quality-of-life deterioration ($10.3 billion) and premature mortality ($9.6 billion), total annual societal costs of RA (direct, indirect, and intangible) increased to $39.2 billion. Conclusions: Societal costs of RA in the US are $19.3 billion and $39.2 billion (in 2005 dollars) without and with intangible costs, respectively. This study was one of the first to attempt to quantify the comprehensive burdens of RA. Despite several assumptions made in areas in which few data exist, the findings generate useful insights into the full burden of RA.
Adapting, correcting, and perfecting software estimates: a maintenance metaphor

A hybrid continuous software estimation model supporting adaptive, corrective, and perfective estimation activities is described. The adaptive activity accommodates new system or user requirements or reflects new organizational realities. Corrective maintenance remedies an error detected in the software product, and perfective maintenance eliminates processing inefficiencies and enhances performance of the overall software system. An implementation using constructive cost model (Cocomo) and the system dynamics (SD) simulator is presented. Three examples are presented that demonstrate how the model can be used: before the project starts to adapt the Cocomo estimates to organizational realities, during software development to correct initial assumptions about sizing, and after project completion to perfect model estimates. <<ETX>>
GluA2-lacking AMPA receptors in hippocampal CA1 cell synapses: evidence from gene-targeted mice

The GluA2 subunit in heteromeric alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor channels restricts Ca2+ permeability and block by polyamines, rendering linear the current-voltage relationship of these glutamate-gated cation channels. Although GluA2-lacking synaptic AMPA receptors occur in GABA-ergic inhibitory neurons, hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cell synapses are widely held to feature only GluA2 containing AMPA receptors. A controversy has arisen from reports of GluA2-lacking AMPA receptors at hippocampal CA3-to-CA1 cell synapses and a study contesting these findings. Here we sought independent evidence for the presence of GluA2-lacking AMPA receptors in CA1 pyramidal cell synapses by probing the sensitivity of their gated cation channels in wild-type (WT) mice and gene-targeted mouse mutants to philanthotoxin, a specific blocker of GluA2-lacking AMPA receptors. The mutants either lacked GluA2 for maximal philanthotoxin sensitivity, or, for minimal sensitivity, expressed GluA1 solely in a Q/R site-edited version or not at all. Our comparative electrophysiological analyses provide incontrovertible evidence for the presence in wild-type CA1 pyramidal cell synapses of GluA2-less AMPA receptor channels. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled “Calcium permeable AMPARs in synaptic plasticity and disease. ”
Evaluation of the “Hill Climbing” and the “Incremental Conductance” Maximum Power Point Trackers for Photovoltaic Power Systems

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is an important function in all photovoltaic (PV) power systems. The classical “hill climbing” and “incremental conductance” MPPT algorithms are widely applied in many papers and applications. Both algorithms perturb the operating conditions of the PV array and detect the changes in generated power. Since the detected change in generated power also could be a result of changes in irradiance, both algorithms are prone to failure in case of large changes in irradiance. This paper starts to discuss the size of the perturbation of the operating conditions for both algorithms, based on the single-diode model. The result is used to select the updating frequency for the two algorithms, in order not to run away under certain dynamic conditions. Both algorithms are implemented in an inverter and tested over 16 days of simultaneous operation. Basic statistical procedures, the paired t-test, have been applied to the data with the conclusion that the two algorithms perform equally good.
Health Factors and Risk of All-Cause, Cardiovascular, and Coronary Heart Disease Mortality: Findings from the MONICA and HAPIEE Studies in Lithuania

Aims This study investigated the trends and levels of the prevalence of health factors, and the association of all-cause and cardiovascular (CVD) mortality with healthy levels of combined risk factors among Lithuanian urban population. Methods Data from five general population surveys in Kaunas, Lithuania, conducted between 1983 and 2008 were used. Healthy factors measured at baseline include non-smoking, normal weight, normal arterial blood pressure, normal level of total serum cholesterol, normal physical activity and normal level of fasting glucose. Among 9,209 men and women aged 45–64 (7,648 were free from coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke at baseline), 1,219 death cases from any cause, 589 deaths from CVD, and 342 deaths from CHD occurred during follow up. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the association between health factors and mortality from all causes, CVD and CHD. Results Between 1983 and 2008, the proportion of subjects with 6 healthy levels of risk factors was higher in 2006–2008 than in 1983–1984 (0.6% vs. 0.2%; p = 0.09), although there was a significant increase in fasting glucose and a decline in intermediate physical activity. Men and women with normal or intermediate levels of risk factors had significantly lower all-cause, CVD and CHD mortality risk than persons with high levels of risk factors. Subjects with 5–6 healthy factors had hazard ratio (HR) of CVD mortality 0.35 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.15–0.83) compared to average risk in the whole population. The hazard ratio for CVD mortality risk was significant in men (HR 0.34, 95% CI 0.12–0.97) but not in women (HR 0.38, 95% CI 0.09–1.67). Conclusions An inverse association of most healthy levels of cardiovascular risk factors with risk of all-cause and CVD mortality was observed in this urban population-based cohort. A greater number of cardiovascular health factors were related with significantly lower risk of CVD mortality, particularly among men.
Essential Role of Correlations in Governing Charge Transport in Disordered Organic Materials

The transport of photoinjected charges in disordered organic films is often interpreted using a formula based on a Gaussian disorder model (GDM) that neglects spatial correlations due to chargedipole interactions, even though such correlations have recently been shown to explain the universal electric field dependence observed in these systems. Based on extensive computer simulations of a 3D disorder model that includes such correlations, we present a new formula for analyzing experiments that accurately describes transport in these materials. [S0031-9007(98)07626-1]
Geomagnetic field and climate variability. 1. Spatial-temporal distribution of geomagnetic field and climatic parameters during XX century

Analysis of main geomagnetic field (from IGRF model) and climatic parameters (near surface air temperature and surface pressure) allows us to determine their variability and spatial-temporal relations between them during the 20 th . Integral characteristics and dynamics of the above parameters in latitudinal band 40-70 ° N have been investigated, applying one and the same approach. This gives us the possibility to reveal their global and regional characteristics - the differences and similarities between them. Three distinct periods of the spatial-temporal distribution of geomagnetic field intensity have been determined, that could be connected to corresponding periods of mean near surface air temperature evolution during the 20 th century: initial global warming (1911-1943); stabilization (end of 1940 s - middle 1970 s); secondary global warming (middle of 1970 s - 2000 s). There is a good correspondence between geomagnetic field, near surface air temperature and pressure spatial distributions during the 20 th century. The high coefficient of similarity between integral spatial distributions of geomagnetic field intensity F and surface air temperature T (R FT ) = - 0,83 is quite unexpected. It indicates that relations between them could hardly be a random connection. If there is a causal relation between them, it obviously should be in the direction: geomagnetic filed influence on the temperature and / or surface pressure. The main problem in this case is that the mechanisms of magnetic filed influence on climatic parameters are less investigated and poorly understood. In this paper geomagnetic field is considered to be a first element of the causal chain of processes relating it with Earth's climate. A brief review of resent understanding of solar - geomagnetic field influence on climate shows that the main role in this process is played by galactic cosmic rays. Results presented here are basement for the second part of this paper, where the causal link of the processes connecting geomagnetic field with galactic cosmic rays, ozone and water vapour near the tropopause (with their influence on the radiation balance of the planet and consequently on climate) is thoroughly analysed.
Nutrition of Phytopathogenic Bacteria

The nutritional requirements of the tumor-inducing phytopathogenic bacteria and soil saprophytes which Conn (1942) has placed in the genus Agrobacterium have received somewhat more attention than have the requirements of most of the other groups of plant-disease bacteria. It is clear from the literature (Sagen, Riker, and Baldwin, 1934; Riker, Lyneis, and Locke, 1941; Hofer, 1941) that the crown-gall bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and the common soil saprophyte, Agrobacterium radiobacter, grow well in solutions containing only ammonium or nitrate nitrogen and any of a number of carbon sources. On the other hand, the remaining two species at present in this genus, the hairy-root organism, Agrobacterium rhizogenes, and the cane-gall bacterium, Agrobacterium rubi, are reported to have somewhat more complex nutritive requirements. For example, Sagen, Riker, and Baldwin (1934) summarize their study of A. rhizogenes by stating that it "seems to lack the ability of P. tumefaciens and B. radiobacter to utilize the simpler nitrogenous compounds. " Similar observations are recorded for A. rubi by Pinckard (1935) and Hildebrand (1940). Inasmuch as knowledge of the exact nutrition of this group may be useful in interpretations of the systematics and general physiology of the genus, as well as provide source material for eventual evaluation on the possible interrelationship of microbial nutrition and virulence (McNew, 1938; Van Lanen, Baldwin, and Biker, 1940), a study of the four Agrobacterium species was undertaken. At the same time some observations were made on the nutritive requirements of Bacterium pseudotsWae and Agrobacterium gypsophilae, two species which have been placed in an Appendix to Agrobacterium in the forthcoming sixth edition of Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. In general, the objective was prompt, moderate growth in simple solutions of known composition, rather than development as rapid and luxuriant as possible in complex media.
Pulpal blood flow in vital and nonvital young permanent teeth measured by transmitted-light photoplethysmography: a pilot study.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to record transmitted-light photoplethysmography (TLP) from young permanent teeth and examine its applicability to pulp vitality assessment. METHODS Twenty-six healthy and 7 nonvital upper maxillary incisors in 17 children (ages 7 years, 3 months to 14 years, 8 months) were examined. Recordings of TLP were made with and without opaque black rubber dam application in a darkened room. Finger photoplethysmography (FPP) of the participants was simultaneously recorded. RESULTS (1) Pulse waves synchronous with FPP were recorded from all healthy teeth, whereas no pulse signals were recognized in nonvital teeth. (2) The signal amplitude in the TLP was not significantly affected by the opaque dam application. (3) In the healthy teeth, there was a significantly negative correlation between the TLP pulse amplitude and the age of the subjects. CONCLUSIONS TLP can detect pulpal blood flow in young permanent teeth. This technique is considered to be applicable in the assessment of pulp vitality.
Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of gemcitabine/cisplatin alone or with sorafenib for the first-line treatment of advanced, nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE This trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of sorafenib plus gemcitabine/cisplatin in chemotherapy-naive patients with unresectable stage IIIB to IV nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Between February 2007 and March 2009, 904 patients were randomly assigned to daily sorafenib (400 mg twice a day) or matching placebo plus gemcitabine (1,250 mg/m(2) per day on days 1 and 8) and cisplatin (75 mg/m(2) on day 1) for up to six 21-day cycles. Because of safety findings from the Evaluation of Sorafenib, Carboplatin and Paclitaxel Efficacy in NSCLC (ESCAPE) trial, patients with squamous cell histology were withdrawn from the trial in February 2008 and excluded from analysis. The primary end point was overall survival (OS), and secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS) and time-to-progression (TTP). RESULTS The primary analysis population consisted of 772 patients (sorafenib, 385; placebo, 387); the two groups had similar demographic and baseline characteristics. Median OS was similar in the sorafenib and placebo groups (12.4 v 12.5 months; hazard ratio [HR], 0.98; P = .401). By investigator assessment, sorafenib improved median PFS (6.0 v 5.5 months; HR, 0.83; P = .008) and TTP (6.1 v 5.5 months; HR, 0.73; P < .001). Grade 3 to 4 drug-related adverse events more than two-fold higher in the sorafenib group included hand-foot skin reaction (8.6% v 0.3%), fatigue (7.3% v 3.6%), rash (5.7% v 0.5%), and hypertension (4.2% v 1.8%). No unexpected toxicities were observed. CONCLUSION This study did not meet its primary end point of improved OS when sorafenib was added to first-line gemcitabine/cisplatin in patients with advanced nonsquamous NSCLC. Identification of predictive biomarkers is warranted in future trials of sorafenib.
High Rates of Escherichia coli Transmission between Livestock and Humans in Rural Uganda

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli is a zoonotic bacterium that is important to both public health and livestock economics. To date, most studies of zoonotic E. coli transmission have been conducted in developed nations with industrialized agricultural economies. In this study, E. coli bacteria were collected from people and livestock in two communities in rural western Uganda in order to investigate patterns of interspecific bacterial transmission in a developing rural economy characterized by very close human-livestock associations. Six hundred seventy-two E. coli isolates were genotyped using repetitive element-PCR (Rep-PCR) fingerprinting, and genetic distances between populations of bacteria from different hosts and locations were calculated. Genetic distances between human and livestock bacteria were generally very low, indicating high rates of bacterial gene flow among host species. Bacteria from humans and livestock in the same communities were virtually indistinguishable genetically. Data from surveys administered at the time of sample collection showed that people who did not regularly wash their hands before eating harbored bacteria approximately twice as similar genetically to bacteria of their livestock as did people who regularly washed their hands before eating. These results suggest that both rates of human-livestock interactions and patterns of human hygiene affect human-livestock bacterial transmission in this setting. This conclusion has implications not only for human and livestock health in subsistence-based agricultural economies but also for the emergence of zoonotic diseases out of such areas as a result of increasing globalization.
Strategies for Detecting Colon Cancer and Dysplasia in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract:The risk of colorectal cancer in patients with long-standing ulcerative colitis or colonic Crohn's disease is increased. Patients with long-standing ulcerative colitis are offered enrollment into programs of endoscopic surveillance. Although direct evidence for a protective effect of surveillance against death from colorectal cancer is limited, colorectal cancer is detected at an earlier stage and the corresponding prognosis is better. Targeting biopsies using pancolonic chromoendoscopy is superior to taking multiple random biopsies for the detection of dysplasia at colonoscopy.
Wnt activity and basal niche position sensitize intestinal stem and progenitor cells to DNA damage

Aging and carcinogenesis coincide with the accumulation of DNA damage and mutations in stem and progenitor cells. Molecular mechanisms that influence responses of stem and progenitor cells to DNA damage remain to be delineated. Here, we show that niche positioning and Wnt signaling activity modulate the sensitivity of intestinal stem and progenitor cells (ISPCs) to DNA damage. ISPCs at the crypt bottom with high Wnt/β‐catenin activity are more sensitive to DNA damage compared to ISPCs in position 4 with low Wnt activity. These differences are not induced by differences in cell cycle activity but relate to DNA damage‐dependent activation of Wnt signaling, which in turn amplifies DNA damage checkpoint activation. The study shows that instructed enhancement of Wnt signaling increases radio‐sensitivity of ISPCs, while inhibition of Wnt signaling decreases it. These results provide a proof of concept that cell intrinsic levels of Wnt signaling modulate the sensitivity of ISPCs to DNA damage and heterogeneity in Wnt activation in the stem cell niche contributes to the selection of ISPCs in the context of DNA damage.
Cross-Sectional Study of Bone Mineral Density in Adult Survivors of Solid Pediatric Cancers

To investigate the hypothesis that survivors of pediatric solid cancer have low bone mineral density, a cross-sectional study was done of subjects who had received treatment for pediatric solid tumors before 16 years of age and were less than 40 years old at follow-up. Excluded were subjects treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia or those who had received cranial irradiation, total body radiation, or nonautologous bone marrow transplant. The study group consisted of 38 subjects, with the most common diagnoses being lymphoma (n = 17), sarcoma (n = 8), Wilms tumor (n = 5), and neuroblastoma (n = 4). Median age was 22 years (range 12-32). Time from diagnosis of underlying cancer averaged 12.6 years (range 5.5-20.3). Using criteria of osteopenia (Z-score ≤−1.0 and >−2.0) and osteoporosis (Z-score ≤ −2.0) for any one or more areas including total body, lumbar spine, total hip, or femoral neck density, 13 of the 38 subjects (34%) had osteopenia or osteoporosis. A further six subjects (16%) had isolated upper extremity osteopenia or osteoporosis. Multivariate analysis showed a direct relationship between the number of chemotherapy drugs administered and the presence of osteopenia or osteoporosis in the lower extremities (P = 0.03). Young survivors of childhood solid tumors are at increased risk of developing premature osteopenia or osteoporosis, and screening evaluations and follow-up are warranted.
Relation between Belief and Performance in Perceptual Decision Making

In an uncertain and ambiguous world, effective decision making requires that subjects form and maintain a belief about the correctness of their choices, a process called meta-cognition. Prediction of future outcomes and self-monitoring are only effective if belief closely matches behavioral performance. Equality between belief and performance is also critical for experimentalists to gain insight into the subjects' belief by simply measuring their performance. Assuming that the decision maker holds the correct model of the world, one might indeed expect that belief and performance should go hand in hand. Unfortunately, we show here that this is rarely the case when performance is defined as the percentage of correct responses for a fixed stimulus, a standard definition in psychophysics. In this case, belief equals performance only for a very narrow family of tasks, whereas in others they will only be very weakly correlated. As we will see it is possible to restore this equality in specific circumstances but this remedy is only effective for a decision-maker, not for an experimenter. We furthermore show that belief and performance do not match when conditioned on task difficulty – as is common practice when plotting the psychometric curve – highlighting common pitfalls in previous neuroscience work. Finally, we demonstrate that miscalibration and the hard-easy effect observed in humans' and other animals' certainty judgments could be explained by a mismatch between the experimenter's and decision maker's expected distribution of task difficulties. These results have important implications for experimental design and are of relevance for theories that aim to unravel the nature of meta-cognition.