Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-selected posttrial aspirin use and subsequent cardiovascular disease and mortality in the physicians' health study.

BACKGROUND The randomized aspirin component of the Physicians' Health Study (PHS) was terminated early, after 5 years, primarily because of the emergence of a statistically extreme (P<.00001) 44% reduction of first myocardial infarction (MI) among those assigned to aspirin. As a result, there were insufficient numbers of strokes or cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related deaths to evaluate these end points definitively. METHODS Data on self-selected aspirin use were collected until the beta carotene component ended as scheduled after 12 years. Posttrial use of aspirin was assessed at the 7-year follow-up among 18 496 participants with no previous reported CVD. Randomized and posttrial observational results in the PHS were compared, and differences between those self-selecting aspirin and those not were examined. RESULTS At 7 years, 59.5% of participants without CVD reported self-selected aspirin use for at least 180 d/y, and 20.8% for 0 to 13 d/y. Use was significantly associated with family history of MI, hypertension, elevated cholesterol levels, body mass index, alcohol consumption, exercise, and use of vitamin E supplements. In multivariate analyses, self-selected aspirin use for at least 180 vs 0 to 13 d/y was associated with lower risk for subsequent MI (relative risk [RR], 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55-0.95), no relation with stroke (RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.74-1.39), and significant reductions in CVD-related (RR, 0.65; CI, 0.47-0.89) and total mortality (RR, 0.64; CI, 0.54-0.77). CONCLUSION These associations between self-selected aspirin use and CVD risk factors increase the likelihood of residual confounding and emphasize the need for large-scale randomized trials, such as the ongoing Women's Health Study, to detect reliably the most plausible small to moderate effects of aspirin in the primary prevention of stroke and CVD-related death.
Prevalence and Risk Factors for HPV in HIV-Positive Young Women Receiving Their First HPV Vaccination

Background:The objectives of this study were to describe the prevalence and risk factors for HPV infection among HIV-infected young women receiving their first quadrivalent HPV (HPV-6, -11, -16, and -18) vaccine dose. Methods:We recruited 16- to 23-year-old women from 14 sites for an HPV vaccine trial. At the first visit, they completed a questionnaire and were tested for cervicovaginal HPV DNA (41 types) and HPV serology (4 vaccine types). Factors associated with any HPV, type-specific HPV, and high-risk (cancer-associated) HPV infections were identified using univariate and multivariable logistic regression. Results:The mean age of participants (N = 99) was 21.4 years, 30.3% were on antiretroviral therapy, 74.7% were positive for ≥1 HPV DNA type, 53.5% for ≥1 high-risk type, 12.1% for HPV-16, and 5.1% for HPV-18. Most were HPV DNA negative and seronegative for HPV-16 (55.6%) and HPV-18 (73.7%); 45.5% were HPV DNA negative and seronegative for both HPV-16 and -18. Three variables were associated with high-risk HPV DNA in multivariable analysis: non-Hispanic black versus Hispanic ethnicity (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 7.06, 95% CI: 1.63 to 30.5), HIV viral load ≥ 400 versus <400 copies/mL (AOR: 3.47, 95% CI: 1.28 to 9.43), and frequency of vaginal sex in the past 90 days (AOR: 5.82, 95% CI: 1.30 to 26.11 for ≥6 vs 0 times). Conclusions:The prevalence of ≥1 HPV type was high in these young women, demonstrating the importance of vaccinating before sexual initiation. However, most women were HPV DNA negative and seronegative for high-risk vaccine-type HPV infection, supporting vaccination of sexually experienced HIV-positive young women.
Trypanosomiasis-Induced Th17-Like Immune Responses in Carp

Background In mammalian vertebrates, the cytokine interleukin (IL)-12 consists of a heterodimer between p35 and p40 subunits whereas interleukin-23 is formed by a heterodimer between p19 and p40 subunits. During an immune response, the balance between IL-12 and IL-23 can depend on the nature of the pathogen associated molecular pattern (PAMP) recognized by, for example TLR2, leading to a preferential production of IL-23. IL-23 production promotes a Th17-mediated immune response characterized by the production of IL-17A/F and several chemokines, important for neutrophil recruitment and activation. For the cold blooded vertebrate common carp, only the IL-12 subunits have been described so far. Methodology/Principal Findings Common carp is the natural host of two protozoan parasites: Trypanoplasma borreli and Trypanosoma carassii. We found that these parasites negatively affect p35 and p40a gene expression in carp. Transfection studies of HEK293 and carp macrophages show that T. carassii-derived PAMPs are agonists of carp TLR2, promoting p19 and p40c gene expression. The two protozoan parasites induce different immune responses as assessed by gene expression and histological studies. During T. carassii infections, in particular, we observed a propensity to induce p19 and p40c gene expression, suggestive of the formation of IL-23. Infections with T. borreli and T. carassii lead to an increase of IFN-γ2 gene expression whereas IL-17A/F2 gene expression was only observed during T. carasssii infections. The moderate increase in the number of splenic macrophages during T. borreli infection contrasts the marked increase in the number of splenic neutrophilic granulocytes during T. carassii infection, along with an increased gene expression of metalloproteinase-9 and chemokines. Conclusion/Significance This is the first study that provides evidence for a Th17-like immune response in fish in response to infection with a protozoan parasite.
Bid-induced Conformational Change of Bax Is Responsible for Mitochondrial Cytochrome c Release during Apoptosis

Here we report that in staurosporine-induced apoptosis of HeLa cells, Bid, a BH3 domain containing protein, translocates from the cytosol to mitochondria. This event is associated with a change in conformation of Bax which leads to the unmasking of its NH2-terminal domain and is accompanied by the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. A similar finding is reported for cerebellar granule cells undergoing apoptosis induced by serum and potassium deprivation. The Bax-conformational change is prevented by Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL but not by caspase inhibitors. Using isolated mitochondria and various BH3 mutants of Bid, we demonstrate that direct binding of Bid to Bax is a prerequisite for Bax structural change and cytochrome c release. Bcl-xL can inhibit the effect of Bid by interacting directly with Bax. Moreover, using mitochondria from Bax-deficient tumor cell lines, we show that Bid- induced release of cytochrome c is negligible when Bid is added alone, but dramatically increased when Bid and Bax are added together. Taken together, our results suggest that, during certain types of apoptosis, Bid translocates to mitochondria and binds to Bax, leading to a change in conformation of Bax and to cytochrome c release from mitochondria.
Axoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release causes secondary degeneration of spinal axons

Transected axons of the central nervous system fail to regenerate and instead die back away from the lesion site, resulting in permanent disability. Although both intrinsic (eg, microtubule instability, calpain activation) and extrinsic (ie, macrophages) processes are implicated in axonal dieback, the underlying mechanisms remain uncertain. Furthermore, the precise mechanisms that cause delayed “bystander” loss of spinal axons, that is, ones that were not directly damaged by the initial insult, but succumbed to secondary degeneration, remain unclear. Our goal was to evaluate the role of intra‐axonal Ca2+ stores in secondary axonal degeneration following spinal cord injury.
On inferring hybridity from morphological intermediacy

The type of intermediacy that separates hybridity from divergence is not multivariate intermediacy; it is the coincidence of intermediate character states. For the purpose of showing hybridity, analyses should distinguish between the two types of intermediacy. (1) Hybrid indices fail to do so. (2) Principal components analysis does so only in an ambiguous way. (3) Pictorialized scatter diagrams properly present the evidence for an interpretation that is intuitive. (4) Counting characters as intermediate or not-intermediate is an explicit approach that allows for statistical evaluation given that certain assumptions are made. Simulated data representing hybridity and divergence are presented to illustrate each method and to provide a prototype of how to document hybridity using the favored methods.
Paleomagnetism , Oroclines , and Growth of the Continental Crust

Strikingly curved mountain ranges have fascinated geologists as long as maps have been around to portray them. I am no exception—as an undergraduate I often stared at the festoon-shaped structural trends in maps of the Paleozoic uplands of Europe. And then, just as I was contemplating, as a beginning graduate student, what my disser-tation should be about, I attended a department-wide seminar at the University of Utrecht given by S.W. Carey. He talked about sphenochasms, rhombochasms, and oroclines and how his mobilistic concepts implied that horizontal movements of the continental crust caused these geometrical patterns (Carey, 1955). While continental drift was a familiar enough theory for us students , endorsed as it was by several of the faculty at Utrecht, plate tectonics had not yet been invented! I found Carey's talk most exciting (he was a very dynamic lecturer), and I began searching for techniques to test his ideas. Soon after, I realized that paleo-magnetism was the answer, given that the declination values of ancient magne-tizations could reveal relative rotations. Carey's definition of oroclines implied that these curved orogenic belts were originally straight, or at the very least, straighter. In his talk, he examined curved Alpine belts in the western Mediterranean, but in reading his 1955 paper, I noticed that he also discussed an older (Paleozoic) strongly curved belt, which exists in a so-called Ibero-Armorican Arc that stretches from Portugal and Spain to Brittany and Normandy in western France. Others Hirt et al., 1992) worked on the paleo-magnetic signatures of the Cantabrian segment of the Ibero-Armorican Arc in the following decades. It would take me some three decades and a sabbatical in 1990–1991 in Barcelona before I found an opportunity to collect samples in the core of the arc, where I suspected we might learn something new about possible evidence for oroclinal bending. Here I present a summary of our studies in northern Spain, which provides an opportunity to examine some concepts relevant to oroclinal bending, and then I will summarize recent paleomagnetic work we have been doing in eastern Kazakhstan, where strongly curved structures exist as well. A comparison between the structures of Kazakhstan, as part of the Paleozoic Ural-Mongol orogenic belt, and structures in Hercynian Europe shows similarities on a large scale, and suggests that the deeper parts of the crust and perhaps even the upper mantle have been involved in the bending processes in these areas. For …
Poetry in therapy: A way to heal for trauma survivors and clients in recovery from addiction

This paper will explore the use of poetry in therapy, particularly with trauma survivors, and clients in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Practice examples from sessions with individuals and groups illustrate some of the methods and benefits of writing poetry. Mazza's (2003) model is introduced, together with a discussion of the theoretical base and research supporting poetry writing as a therapeutic collaboration. In addition, the author demonstrates how therapists can use poetry writing themselves as a way to make sense of their work, and relieve the stress of absorbing the hurt and pain of their clients. Samples of poetry from her work and that of other therapists are included.
On the Optimality of the Selection Transmit Diversity for MIMO-FSO Links with Feedback

We propose an optimal power allocation strategy for Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) Free-Space Optical (FSO) links with Intensity Modulation (IM) and Direct Detection (DD). The optimization is performed for shot noise limited systems in the presence of complete feedback. The derived analytical solution turns out to be the same as the selection transmit diversity scheme proposed for MISO-FSO systems corrupted by Gaussian noise. We also propose and analyze a novel transmission strategy for the limited-feedback case.
Tumors Suppress In Situ Proliferation of Cytotoxic T Cells by Promoting Differentiation of Gr-1+ Conventional Dendritic Cells through IL-6

Cancers are often accompanied by inflammation, which can promote tumor growth, invasion, and metastases. We show that the tumor microenvironment induces the development of a Gr-1+ conventional dendritic cell (cDC) subpopulation that is functionally defective. Gr-1+cDCs differentiated from recruited immediate precursors of cDCs, a process supported by the inflammatory cytokine milieu in tumors. Inhibition of Gr-1+cDC differentiation enhanced intratumor expansion of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells (CTLs), resulting in suppression of tumor growth. Diphtheria toxin treatment of CD11c–diphtheria toxin receptor chimeras revealed the importance of intratumor cDCs in stimulating CTL proliferation in situ. Our study demonstrates a key role of intratumor cDCs in determining antitumor CTL responses and suggests that they may be an appropriate target for tumor immunotherapy.
Creativity in the Context of Team Diversity: Team Leader Perspectives

In spite of demands for teaming and creative outputs in organizations and for increasing workforce diversity overall, to date researchers have only scratched the surface regarding team creativity and appear to have ignored the role of diversity altogether. Fortune 500 team leaders identified as both successful in leading creative teams and who identify team diversity as important to their successes were interviewed for this study. In addition to several other key elements, team leaders credited a mix of employees with different characteristics as a key reason for team development of creative outputs directly impacting organizational success. Study findings are discussed and compared to related research. Recommendations for further study are provided.
Climates of suspicion: ‘chemtrail’ conspiracy narratives and the international politics of geoengineering

Concurrent with growing academic and policy interest in ‘geoengineering’ the global climate in response to climate change, a more marginal discourse postulating the existence of a climate control conspiracy is also proliferating on the Internet. Here, the term ‘chemtrails’ is used interchangeably with the term geoengineering to describe the belief that the persistent contrails left by aeroplanes provide evidence that a secret programme of large scale weather and climate modification is on-going. Despite recent calls for greater appreciation of the diverse ways in which people conceive of and relate to ideas of climate control, and widespread acknowledgement of the importance of democratic public engagement in governance of geoengineering, the chemtrail conspiracy narrative has received very little attention in academic work to date. This paper builds on work highlighting the instability of the distinction between ‘paranoid’ and ‘normal’ views, and examines the chemtrail conspiracy narrative as a discourse rather than a pathology (either psychological or sociological). The analysis finds that while some elements of the chemtrail narrative do not lend themselves to democratic processes of deliberation, and potential for engagement with more mainstream discourse appears to be low, nevertheless certain elements of the discourse (such as the moral outrage at the idea of powerful elites controlling the climate, or the importance of emotional and spiritual connections to weather and climate) highlight concerns of relevance to mainstream geoengineering debates. Furthermore, the pervasive suspicion that characterises the narrative and its reminder of the key role that trust plays in knowledge creation and the justification of beliefs, signals what is likely to be a perennial issue in the emerging international politics of geoengineering.
Regulation of platelet-derived growth factor gene expression by transforming growth factor beta and phorbol ester in human leukemia cell lines

We studied the expression of the genes encoding the A and B chains of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) in a number of human leukemia cell lines. Steady-state expression of the A-chain RNA was seen only in the promonocytic leukemia cell line U937 and in the T-cell leukemia cell line MOLT-4. It has previously been reported that both PDGF A and PDGF B genes are induced during megakaryoblastic differentiation of the K562 erythroleukemia cells and transiently during monocytic differentiation of the promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60 and U937 cells. In this study we show that PDGF A RNA expression was induced in HL-60 and Jurkat T-cell leukemia cells and increased in U937 and MOLT-4 cells after a 1- to 2-h stimulation with an 8 pM concentration of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta). PDGF A RNA remained at a constant, elevated level for at least 24 h in U937 cells, but returned to undetectable levels within 12 h in HL-60 cells. No PDGF A expression was induced by TGF-beta in K562 cells or in lung carcinoma cells (A549). Interestingly, essentially no PDGF B-chain (c-sis proto-oncogene) RNA was expressed simultaneously with PDGF A. In the presence of TGF-beta and protein synthesis inhibitors, PDGF A RNA was superinduced at least 20-fold in the U937 and HL-60 cells. PDGF A expression was accompanied by secretion of immunoprecipitable PDGF to the culture medium of HL-60 and U937 cells. The phorbol ester tumor promoter tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate also increased PDGF A expression with similar kinetics, but with a mechanism distinct from that of TGF-beta. These results suggest a role for TGF-beta in the differential regulation of expression of the PDGF genes.
Smoking restrictions in bars and bartender smoking in the US, 1992–2007

Objective The present work is an analysis of whether adoption of state clean indoor air laws (SCIALs) covering bars reduces the proportion of bartenders who smoke primarily by reducing smoking among people already employed as bartenders when restrictions are adopted or by changing the composition of the bartender workforce with respect to smoking behaviours. Methods Logistic regressions were estimated for a variety of smoking outcomes, controlling for individual demographic characteristics, state economic characteristics, and state, year, and month fixed effects, using data on 1380 bartenders from the 1992–2007 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey combined with data on SCIALs from ImpacTeen. Results State restrictions on smoking in bars are negatively associated with whether a bartender smokes, with a 1-point increase in restrictiveness (on a scale of 0–3) associated with a 5.3% reduction in the odds of smoking. Bar SCIALs are positively associated with the likelihood a bartender reports never having smoked cigarettes but not with the likelihood a bartender reports having been a former smoker. Conclusion State clean indoor air laws covering bars appear to reduce smoking among bartenders primarily by changing the composition of the bartender workforce with respect to smoking rather than by reducing smoking among people already employed as bartenders when restrictions are adopted. Such laws may nonetheless be an important public health tool for reducing secondhand smoke.
Axillary Mononeuropathy After Herpes Zoster Infection Mimicking Subacromial Impingement Syndrome

Aktas I, Akgun K, Gunduz OH: Axillary mononeuropathy after herpes zoster infection mimicking subacromial impingement syndrome. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2008;87:859–861. Subacromial impingement syndrome is a frequent cause of shoulder pain and it is readily confused with other shoulder problems. We present a patient with herpes zoster infection associated with axillary mononeuropathy that was initially misdiagnosed as subacromial impingement syndrome. A 75-yr-old female patient was admitted to the internal medicine clinic because of pain and weakness in her right shoulder. As she did not respond to medical treatment and local injection therapy, magnetic resonance imaging of the right shoulder was ordered. As the magnetic resonance imaging revealed subacromial impingement of the supraspinatus tendon, the patient was referred to the physical medicine and rehabilitation department for rehabilitation. In our initial physical examination, her shoulder abductor muscle strength was 2/5 and her shoulder external rotator muscle strength was 3/5. A subacromial injection test with 10 ml of 1% lidocain was negative and the magnetic resonance imaging did not show a complete rotator tendon rupture that could explain such a muscle strength loss. So, an electrodiagnostic evaluation was performed and the patient was diagnosed to have a right axillary neuropathy. A more detailed questioning of the patient disclosed a history of herpes zoster approximately 3 mos ago. Herpes zoster—associated axillary neuropathy can mimic subacromial impingement syndrome, and magnetic resonance imaging examination alone may lead to a misdiagnosis. Therefore, we imply that clinical and electrophysiological evaluations would be of great importance in relevant patients with shoulder problems.
Intra- and inter-justice relationships: Assessing the direction

This field study used structural equation modeling to investigate the relationships among: (1) distributive and procedural justice; (2) justice components and organizational commitment; and (3) justice components and behaviors/behavioral intentions. The results suggest that, over time, procedural justice judgments are likely to influence perceptions of distributive justice, but not vice versa. In addition, the results suggest that both distributive justice and procedural justice have reciprocal relationships with commitment and turnover intentions, although in some cases they are contingent on lagged effects. Relationships between procedural justice and behaviors (i.e. compliance, performance) were unidirectional, significant only in the justice-to-behavior direction.
The Social Psychology of Self-Efficacy

The topic of self-efficacy is part of a broad literature which has developed around the issues of human agency, mastery, and control. Its more delimited focus is on perceptions and assessments of self with regard to competence, effectiveness, and causal agency. Self-efficacy has become an important variable within social psychological research because of its association with various favorable consequences, especially in the areas of physical and mental health. It is also quite congruent with the Western emphasis on such values as mastery, self-reliance, and achievement. This review examines the nature of self-efficacy and related terms, reviews the research literature on the development of self-efficacy and how social structure and group processes affect this development, considers changes of self-efficacy over the life course, and reviews the consequences of self-efficacy for individual functioning and for social change. The focus of the review is on the social psychological literature within sociology, .