Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iron metabolism, inflammation and anemia in critically ill patients. A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION For critically patients, enteral immunonutrition results in notable reductions in infections and in length of stay in hospital, but not on mortality, raising the question as to whether this relate to the heterogeneous nature of critically ill patients or to the absence of the altered absorption of specific nutrients within the immunonutrient mix (e.g. iron). Immune-associated functional iron deficiency (FID) is not only one of the many causes or anaemia in the critically ill, but also a cause of inappropriate immune response, leading to a longer duration of episodes of systemic inflammatory response syndrome and poor outcome. OBJECTIVE This prospective cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of FID in critically ill patients during their stay in intensive care (ICU) in order to find the more appropriate population of patients that can benefit from iron therapy. METHOD Full blood cell counts, including reticulocytes (RETIC), serum iron (SI), transferring levels (TRF) and saturation (satTRF), serum TFR receptor (sTfR), ferritin (FRT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in venous blood samples from 131 random patients admitted to the ICU for at least 24 h (Length of ICU stay, LIS; min: 1 day; max: 38 days). RESULTS Anaemia (Hb < 12 g/dL) was present in 76% of the patients (Hb < 10 g/dL in 33%), hypoferremia (SI < 45 microg/dl) in 69%; satTRF < 20% in 53%; FRT < 100 ng/mL in 23%; sTfR > 2.3 mg/dL in 13%; and CRP > 0.5 mg/dL in 88%. Statistically significant correlations (r of Pearson; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01) were obtained for serum CRP levels and WBC**, Hb*, TRF**, satTRF*, and FRT**. There was also a strong correlation between TRF and FRT (-0.650**), but not between FRT and satTRF or SI. LIS correlated with Hb*, CRP**, TRF*, satTRF* and FRT**. CONCLUSIONS A large proportion of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU presented the typical functional iron deficiency (FID) of acute inflammation-related anaemia (AIRA). This FID correlates with the inflammatory status and the length of stay at the ICU. However, 21% of the ICU patients with AIRA had an associated real iron deficiency (satTRF < 20; FRT < 100 and sTfR > 2.3). Since oral supplementation of iron seems to be ineffective, all these patients might benefit of iv iron therapy for correction of real or functional iron deficiency, which in turn might help to ameliorate their inflammatory status.
Oxidative scission of plant cell wall polysaccharides by ascorbate-induced hydroxyl radicals.

Scission of plant cell wall polysaccharides in vivo has generally been assumed to be enzymic. However, in the presence of l-ascorbate, such polysaccharides are shown to undergo non-enzymic scission under physiologically relevant conditions. Scission of xyloglucan by 1 mM ascorbate had a pH optimum of 4.5, and the maximum scission rate was reached after a 10-25-min delay. Catalase prevented the scission, whereas added H2O2 (0.1-10 mM) increased the scission rate and shortened the delay. Ascorbate caused detectable xyloglucan scission above approx. 5 microM. Dehydroascorbate was much less effective. Added Cu2+ (>0.3 microM) also increased the rate of ascorbate-induced scission; EDTA was inhibitory. The rate of scission in the absence of added metals appeared to be attributable to the traces of Cu (2.8 mg.kg-1) present in the xyloglucan. Ascorbate-induced scission of xyloglucan was inhibited by radical scavengers; their effectiveness was proportional to their rate constants for reaction with hydroxyl radicals (.OH). It is proposed that ascorbate non-enzymically reduces O2 to H2O2, and Cu2+ to Cu+, and that H2O2 and Cu+ react to form . OH, which causes oxidative scission of polysaccharide chains. Evidence is reviewed to suggest that, in the wall of a living plant cell, Cu+ and H2O2 are formed by reactions involving ascorbate and its products, dehydroascorbate and oxalate. Systems may thus be in place to produce apoplastic . OH radicals in vivo. Although . OH radicals are often regarded as detrimental, they are so short-lived that they could act as site-specific oxidants targeted to play a useful role in loosening the cell wall, e.g. during cell expansion, fruit ripening and organ abscission.
Increased Somatic Complaints and Health-Care Utilization in Children: Effects of Parent IBS Status and Parent Response to Gastrointestinal Symptoms

OBJECTIVES:Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) runs in families. The aims of this study were (i) to exclude biased perception by a mother with irritable bowel as the explanation for increased gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in their children, (ii) to determine whether non-GI as well as GI symptoms run in families, and (iii) to determine whether parent IBS status and solicitous responses to illness exert independent effects on children's symptom reports, medical clinic visits, and school absences.METHODS:Two hundred and eight mothers with irritable bowel and their 296 children (cases: average age 11.9 yr; 48.6% male) and 241 nonirritable bowel mothers and their 335 children (controls: 11.8 yr; 49.0% male) were interviewed. Other factors assessed were stress, mother's and child's psychological symptoms, child's perceived competence, pain coping style, age, and sex. Children were interviewed apart from their parents.RESULTS:Case children independently reported more frequent stomach aches (F(591) = 9.22; p= 0.0025) and non-GI symptoms (F(562) = 21.03; p < 0.001) than control children. Case children also had more school absences (F(625) = 26.53; p < 0.0001), physician visits for GI symptoms (F(602) = 8.09; p= 0.005), and non-GI clinic visits (F(602) = 27.92; p < 0.001) than control children. Children whose mothers made solicitous responses to illness complaints independently reported more severe stomach aches (F(590) = 11.42; p < 0.001), and they also had more school absences for stomach aches (F(625) = 5.33; p < 0.05), but solicitous behavior did not significantly impact non-GI symptom reporting, clinic visits, or school absences. Differences between cases and controls remained significant after adjusting for potential moderators.CONCLUSIONS:(i) Frequent GI complaints in children whose mothers have irritable bowel are not explained by the mother's biased perceptions; (ii) children of mothers with irritable bowel have more non-GI as well as GI symptoms, disability days, and clinical visits; (iii) and parent IBS status and solicitous responses to illness have independent effects on the child's symptom complaints.
Relation of Vitamin E and Selenium Exposure to Prostate Cancer Risk by Smoking Status: A Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Epidemiological studies of selenium and vitamin E, two antioxidants hypothesized to reduce prostate cancer risk, have shown no discernible benefit. It has been proposed, however, that tobacco smoking may modify the effect of these nutrients. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a meta-analysis of studies evaluating the relation of vitamin E and selenium exposure to prostate cancer risk in never smokers vs. ever smokers and, when feasible, former and current smokers. Overall and stratum-specific meta-risk ratios (meta-RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random-effects models. RESULTS A total of 21 studies have met the inclusion criteria. Meta-RR (95% CI) estimates of prostate cancer associated with vitamin E use were 1.03 (0.95-1.11) in never smokers and 0.98 (0.90-1.07) in ever-smokers. For selenium, meta-RRs were 1.09 (0.78-1.52 and 0.76 (0.60-0.96) for never and ever-smokers, respectively; however, results for current smokers were weaker than those for former smokers. Sub-analyses according to different exposure assessment methods and outcome definitions produced similar results across strata. CONCLUSION The association between vitamin E and prostate cancer is not modified by smoking. Selenium exposure is associated with lower prostate cancer risk among ever-smokers; however, the lack of an association for current smokers indicates that this finding needs to be interpreted with caution.
Cosmological Parameters from the SDSS DR5 Velocity Dispersion Function of Early-Type Galaxies through Radio-selected Lens Statistics

We improve strong lensing constraints on cosmological parameters in light of the new measurement of the velocity dispersion function of early-type galaxies based on the SDSS DR5 data and recent semianalytical modeling of galaxy formation. Using both the number statistics of the CLASS statistical sample and the image separation distribution of the CLASS and the PANELS radio-selected lenses, we find the cosmological matter density to be Ωm, 0 = 0.25 (68% CL) assuming evolutions of galaxies predicted by a semianalytical model of galaxy formation and Ωm, 0 = 0.26 assuming no evolution of galaxies for a flat cosmology with an Einstein cosmological constant. For a flat cosmology with a generalized dark energy, we find the nonevolving dark energy equation of state wx < -1.2 (wx < -0.5) at the 68% CL (95% CL).
Nonlinear Prediction and Complexity of alpha EEG Activity

Two prediction techniques were used to investigate the dynamical complexity of the alpha EEG; a nonlinear method using the K-nearest-neighbor local linear (KNNLL) approximation, and one based on global linear autoregressive (AR) modeling. Generally, KNNLL has more ability to predict nonlinearity in a chaotic time series under moderately noisy conditions as demonstrated by using increasingly noisy realizations of the Henon (a low-dimensional chaotic) and Mackey–Glass (a high-dimensional chaotic) maps. However, at higher noise levels KNNLL performs no better than AR prediction. For linear stochastic time series, such as a sine wave with added Gaussian noise, prediction using KNNLL is no better than AR even at very low signal-to-noise ratios. Both prediction techniques were applied to resting EEGs (O2 scalp recording site, 10–20 EEG system) from ten normal adult subjects under eyes-closed and eyes-open conditions. In all recordings tested, KNNLL did not yield a lower root mean squared error (RMSE) than AR prediction. This result more closely resembles that obtained for noisy sine waves as opposed to chaotic time series with added noise. This lends further support to the notion that these EEG signals are linear-stochastic in nature. However, the possibility that some EEG signals, particularly those with high prediction errors produced by a noisy nonlinear system cannot be ruled out in this study.
Men and Women of the Corporation

* Introduction The Players And The Stage * Men and Women of the Corporation: The Population * Industrial Supply Corporation: The Setting Roles And Images * Managers * Secretaries * Wives Structures And Processes * Opportunity * Power * Numbers: Minorities and Majorities Understanding The Action * Contributions to Theory: Structural Determinants of Behavior in Organizations * Contributions to Practice: Organizational Change, Affirmative Action, and the Quality of Work Life * Afterword to the 1993 Edition
ON THE THICKNESS OF THE UNIT MEMBRANE

Peak-to-peak distances between two dense lines of the unit membranes of cell organelles were measured on electron micrographs. These distances were compared with corresponding measurements on the plasma membrane and assigned a percentage value. The comparison between organelle and plasma membrane was always carried out with the same negative, in order to exclude as far as possible errors due to differences in focus or other causes. It was revealed by this study that the membranous structures of the cell can be classified into two groups, one thicker and one thinner. Unit membranes of the thicker group (synaptic vesicles, vesicles and capsules of multivesicular bodies, Golgi vesicles) were not significantly different in thickness from the plasma membrane. Unit membranes of the thinner group (mitochondria, nuclear membranes, Golgi lamellae, endoplasmic reticulum), however, were between 85 and 90 per cent of the thickness of the plasma membrane.
Clinicopathologic and survival characteristics of childhood and adolescent non Hodgkin's lymphoma in Yazd, Iran.

BACKGROUND Data regarding childhood and adolescent non Hodgkin lymphomas in Iran are limited. The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological and histomorphological features and survival of affected patients in our center. MATERIALS AND METHODS The clinicopathologic features and outcome of 44 children and adolescents with non Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosed during 2004-2012, were investigated retrospectively. The influence of potential prognostic parameters in overall survival was investigated by log-rank test and Cox regression analysis. RESULTS The mean age at presentation was 13.8 ± 6.16 years with a male predilection (M: F=3:1). Malignant lymphoma, not otherwise specified, diffuse large cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma were the three most common histological types observed. The tumors were 36.4% intermediate grade, 27.3% high grade and 34.1% belonged to the malignant lymphoma not otherwise specified group. Immunohistochemistry findings were available in 39 cases. Out of these cases 33 (84.6%) had B cell lineage, 4 (10.25%) T cell lineage and 2 (5.12%) of the cases belonged to miscellaneous group. 3 year and 5 year survivals were 48% and 30% respectively and median survival was 36 months (95%CI=21.7-50.3 months). Overall survival in patients with high grade tumors was 19.5 months, in the intermediate group,79 months , and for malignant lymphomas not otherwise specified it was 33.6 months (p value=0.000). CONCLUSIONS The survival rate for children and adolescents with non Hodgkin lymphomas at our center during 2004-2012 was at a low level.
Validation of the short form of the Chinese Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory in Mainland China.

Self-efficacy increasingly has been reported as an important outcome measure in childbirth care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometrics of the short form of the Chinese Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory (CBSEI-C32) in mainland China. A convenience sample of 297 pregnant Chinese women who were attending the out-patient clinic of the study hospital in Guangzhou participated in the study. The participants were asked to complete the CBSEI-C32, the Chinese Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (CSAS), the Chinese Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE) and the socio-demographic questionnaire. A subgroup of 75 pregnant women was selected randomly from the total sample using a table of random numbers for test-retest reliability assessment. The findings demonstrate high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .96) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .88) for the CBSEI-C32. Confirmatory factor analysis showed some support for a two-factor structure of the CBSEI-C32, and construct validity was further supported by a significant relationship with CSAS. The CBSEI-C32 has the potential to be used as a clinical and research instrument for measuring childbirth self-efficacy in women in mainland China.
Deletions of p15 and/or p16 genes as a poor-prognosis factor in adult T-cell leukemia.

PURPOSE To determine the frequency of the deletions of p15/p16 genes in adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) cells and to evaluate their value in the diagnosis of clinical subtypes of ATL patients and the prediction of their clinical outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS Peripheral-blood samples from 114 patients with ATL were examined by Southern blot analysis. In five chronic-type patients who showed disease progression to acute type, serial samples also were examined. RESULTS Among 114 patients, 28 (24.6%) showed the deletions of p15 and/or p16 genes. The results were well correlated with the clinical subtypes. Patients with deleted p15 and/or p16 genes had significantly shorter survival times than the patients in whom both genes were preserved (P < .0001). A similar decline in survival time was observed in the analyses within the same subtypes. In multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazard model, the deletions of p15 and/or p16 genes emerged as an independent prognostic indicator. Moreover, three of the five chronic-type patients who progressed to acute type lost the p16 gene alone or both the p15 and p16 genes at their exacerbation phase. CONCLUSION The results suggest the following: (1) that the deletions of p15 and/or p16 genes play a key role in the progression of ATL; and (2) that these deletions are reliable prognostic factors that predict shortened survival times.
Explicative factors of face-to-face harassment and cyberbullying in a sample of primary students.

BACKGROUND Research has shown that there is a co-occurrence between bullying and cyberbullying in relation to certain variables that describe and explain them. The present study aims to examine the differential influence of individual and contextual variables on perception of the role played in the involvement in both phenomena. METHOD Participants were 1278 schoolchildren (47.7 % girls) of primary education, aged 10 to 14 years ( M =11.11, SD = 0.75). RESULTS Logistic regression analysis indicated that social adjustment, normative adjustment, disruptiveness, gender, and self-esteem explain a substantial part of the involvement in both violent phenomena as victims, aggressors, and bully/victims. CONCLUSIONS The results are discussed regarding the weight that must attributed to individual versus contextual factors, concluding that the explicative weight of the immediate social elements and educational context may make the difference.
Label Retaining Cells (LRCs) with Myoepithelial Characteristic from the Proximal Acinar Region Define Stem Cells in the Sweat Gland

Slow cycling is a common feature shared among several stem cells (SCs) identified in adult tissues including hair follicle and cornea. Recently, existence of unipotent SCs in basal and lumenal layers of sweat gland (SG) has been described and label retaining cells (LRCs) have also been localized in SGs; however, whether these LRCs possess SCs characteristic has not been investigated further. Here, we used a H2BGFP LRCs system for in vivo detection of infrequently dividing cells. This system allowed us to specifically localize and isolate SCs with label-retention and myoepithelial characteristics restricted to the SG proximal acinar region. Using an alternative genetic approach, we demonstrated that SG LRCs expressed keratin 15 (K15) in the acinar region and lineage tracing determined that K15 labeled cells contributed long term to the SG structure but not to epidermal homeostasis. Surprisingly, wound healing experiments did not activate proximal acinar SG cells to participate in epidermal healing. Instead, predominantly non-LRCs in the SG duct actively divided, whereas the majority of SG LRCs remained quiescent. However, when we further challenged the system under more favorable isolated wound healing conditions, we were able to trigger normally quiescent acinar LRCs to trans-differentiate into the epidermis and adopt its long term fate. In addition, dissociated SG cells were able to regenerate SGs and, surprisingly, hair follicles demonstrating their in vivo plasticity. By determining the gene expression profile of isolated SG LRCs and non-LRCs in vivo, we identified several Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) pathway genes to be up-regulated and confirmed a functional requirement for BMP receptor 1A (BMPR1A)-mediated signaling in SG formation. Our data highlight the existence of SG stem cells (SGSCs) and their primary importance in SG homeostasis. It also emphasizes SGSCs as an alternative source of cells in wound healing and their plasticity for regenerating different skin appendages.
Nurses' reporting of suspect adverse drug reactions: a mixed-methods study.

OBJECTIVE To assess nurses' knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards spontaneous adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reporting. METHODS The mixed-method study was conducted following a quanti-qualitative sequential approach: a survey (using a KAP questionnaire) followed by a focus group was performed. RESULTS In the quantitative findings, responders (570 hospital nurses) declared that they were unaware of the pharmacovigilance system (58.1%, n = 331); where to find the reporting form (63.5%, n = 362); how fill it in (71.6%, n = 408); to whom and how to send it (65.8%, n = 375). Only 11.1% (n = 63) reported ADRs. The qualitative phase supported the quantitative findings and provided new information about other factors that condition ADR reporting: misinterpretation of the meaning of "reporting", unawareness of nurses' autonomy in ADR reporting and fear of consequences after ADR reporting. CONCLUSION Nurses are not fully aware of their role in ADR reporting. We recommend educational interventions and management changes.
QoS-Aware Downlink Cooperation for Cell-Edge and Handoff Users

In this paper, we present a quality-of-service (QoS)-aware cooperative downlink scheduling approach for cell-edge and handoff users that offers more reliability and higher effective capacity. The cooperation (handoff) region is defined for active handoff users between two adjacent base stations (BSs) as a function of the user QoS requirements and network load. In addition, the proposed technique inherently acquires intercell interference (ICI) coordination by adjusting the position and size of the cooperation window suitably. Numerical results are presented showing reliability, user QoS and capacity gain performance, and the region for cooperative scheduling in a coded communication scenario. Our analysis indicates that cooperation provides relatively less gain in effective capacity, i.e., up to about 40% with respect to noncooperative handoff, when the QoS requirement is loose. On the other hand, when the QoS requirement is more stringent, the effective capacity gain can increase up to nearly 100%. Additionally, we show that, while for applications with a loose QoS requirement the cooperation window size is small, i.e., nearly 1% of the total area of the BSs participating in cooperation, it increases quite significantly, i.e., up to nearly 25%, for the applications with stringent QoS. Although the outage performance of the proposed approach is poorer than the joint transmission mode of a cooperative multipoint scheme in lightly loaded networks, its effective capacity is significantly higher under varying network traffic load and QoS constraints.
Multicast Throughput of Hybrid Wireless Networks Under Gaussian Channel Model

We study the multicast capacity for hybrid wireless networks consisting of ordinary wireless nodes and base stations under Gaussian channel model, which generalizes both the unicast capacity and broadcast capacity for hybrid wireless networks. We simply consider the hybrid extended network, where the ordinary wireless nodes are placed in the square region A(n) with side-length radicn according to a Poisson point process with unit intensity. In addition, m additional base stations (BSs) serving as the relay gateway are placed regularly in the region A(n) and they are connected by a high-bandwidth wired network. Three broad categories of multicast strategies are proposed in this paper. According to the different scenarios in terms of m, n and nd, we select the optimal scheme from the three categories of strategies, and derive the achievable multicast throughput based on the optimal decision.
Designing for Inclusion: Supporting Gender Diversity in Independent Innovation Teams

We study how independent innovation teams develop an environment of inclusion to support gender diversity. Through a mixed-methods study involving surveys and interviews with people involved in independent innovation, we sought to better understand the mechanisms by which their teams fostered a sense of inclusion to support gender diversity via interpersonal practices and communication and collaboration technology usage. By understanding how inclusion supports gender diversity, we discuss design implications to help more diverse independent innovation teams form and function.