Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low-Dose Pegylated Interferon-α2A plus Ribavirin Therapy for Elderly And/Or Cirrhotic Patients with HCV Genotype-1B and High Viral Load

Background Pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin therapy is still recommended for elderly and/or cirrhotic patients. This study examined whether sustained virological response (SVR) to low-dose PEG-IFN-α2a plus ribavirin therapy for elderly and/or cirrhotic patients could be predicted based on viral reduction within 2 weeks after therapy initiation or interleukin IL-(28B) polymorphism and viral mutations. Methods Participants comprised 115 elderly (≥65 years) and/or cirrhotic patients with genotype-1b and high viral load. Reduced doses of PEG-IFN-α2a (90 μg/kg/week) and ribavirin (400-800 mg/day) were administered for 48-72 weeks based on virological response of each patient. Results SVR was achieved in 34% (39/115), and treatment was discontinued in 15% (17/115). Univariate analysis identified age, α-fetoprotein, fibrosis marker, interferon sensitivity-determining region (ISDR), IL-28B polymorphism and level of viral reduction within 2 weeks as factors contributing significantly to SVR. However, no significant differences were noted in core amino acid substitutions. Multivariate analysis identified age, hyaluronic acid, ISDR and viral reduction as factors independently associated with SVR. Positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of SVR based on the level of viral reduction at 2 weeks (cutoff level, 1.7 log IU/ml) were 83% and 84%, respectively. The PPV of SVR based on IL-28B major and ISDR mutant was 70%, and the NPV of SVR based on IL-28B minor and wild-type ISDR was 89%. Conclusions Evaluations of viral reduction at 2 weeks or both IL-28B and ISDR are useful to predict SVR to low-dose PEG-IFN-α2a plus ribavirin therapy for elderly and/ or cirrhotic patients.
P2Y6 receptor inhibition perturbs CCL2-evoked signalling in human monocytic and peripheral blood mononuclear cells

ABSTRACT The chemokine CCL2 serves to target circulating monocytes and other leukocytes to tissue during innate immune responses, and modulates the progression of chronic inflammatory disease through activation of the receptor CCR2. Here, we show that co-activation of the P2Y6 purinergic receptor (encoded by P2RY6) occurs when THP-1 cells and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells sense CCL2 through CCR2. Furthermore, P2Y6 receptor activation accounts for ∼80% of the intracellular Ca2+ signal evoked by CCL2. Scavenging extracellular nucleotides with apyrase caused a fourfold reduction in THP-1 sensitivity to CCL2, whereas inhibition of CD39-like ectonucleotidases potentiated CCL2-evoked Ca2+ responses. Pharmacological inhibition of P2Y6 impaired CCL2-evoked Ca2+ signalling and chemotaxis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and THP-1 cells. Furthermore, stable P2Y6 receptor knockdown (of twofold) in THP-1 cells impaired CCL2-evoked Ca2+ signalling, chemotaxis and adhesion to TNF&agr;-treated HUVECs. We demonstrate that THP-1 cells rapidly secrete ATP during signalling downstream of the CCL2–CCR2 axis and suggest this might act as a mechanism for P2Y6 receptor co-activation following CCL2 activation of the CCR2 receptor. The discovery that P2Y6 receptor mediates leukocyte responsiveness to CCL2 represents a new mechanism by which to modulate CCL2 signals.
Personal nature and ambiguity as sources of message equivocality: an extension of media richness theory

Media richness theory has become one of the most cited, yet controversial, theories of media choices in organizations. In this paper, we refine and extend media richness theory by more precisely characterizing its key construct, the concept of message equivocality. We identify two sources of message equivocality, personal nature and ambiguity. We then present results from three studies that demonstrate their differential effects on media choices. Personal nature explains variance in media choices over and above that explained by ambiguity. Further, employees prefer to send personal messages via face-to-face meetings, telephone and voice mail, and impersonal messages via electronic mail, facsimile and memos. Implications for research and new media are drawn.
Measuring Cognitive Load Using Linguistic Features: Implications for Usability Evaluation and Adaptive Interaction Design

An intelligent adaptable system, aware of a user’s experienced cognitive load, may help improve performance in complex, time-critical situations by dynamically deploying more appropriate output strategies to reduce cognitive load. However, measuring a user’s cognitive load robustly, in real-time is not a trivial task. Many research studies have attempted to assess users’ cognitive load using different measurements, but these are often unsuitable for deployment in real-life applications due to high intrusiveness. Relatively novel linguistic behavioral features as potential indices of user’s cognitive load is proposed. These features may be collected implicitly and nonintrusively supporting real-time assessment of users’ cognitive load and accordingly allowing adaptive usability evaluation and interaction. Results from a laboratory experiment show significantly different linguistic patterns under different task complexities and cognitive load levels. Implications of the research for adaptive interaction are also discussed, that is, how the cognitive load measurement-based approach could be used for user interface evaluation and interaction design improvement.
Drivers: A Biologically Contextualized, Cross-Inferential View of the Epidemiology of Neurodegenerative Disorders

Background: Sutherland et al. (2011) suggested that, instead of risk factors for single neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs), there was a need to identify specific “drivers”, i.e., risk factors with impact on specific deposits, such as amyloid-β, tau, or α-synuclein, acting across entities. Objectives and Methods: Redefining drivers as “neither protein/gene- nor entity-specific features identifiable in the clinical and general epidemiology of conformational NDDs (CNDDs) as potential footprints of templating/spread/transfer mechanisms”, we conducted an analysis of the epidemiology of ten CNDDs, searching for patterns. Results: We identified seven potential drivers, each of which was shared by at least two CNDDs: 1) an age-at-exposure-related susceptibility to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and several late-life CNDDs; 2) a relationship between age at onset, survival, and incidence; 3) shared genetic risk factors for CJD and late-life CNNDs; 4) partly shared personal (diagnostic, educational, behavioral, and social risk factors) predating clinical onset of late-life CNDDs; 5) two environmental risk factors, namely, surgery for sporadic CJD and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Bordetella pertussis infection for Parkinson’s disease; 6) reticulo-endothelial system stressors or general drivers (andropause or premenopausal estrogen deficiency, APOEɛ4, and vascular risk factors) for late-life CNDDs such as dementia/Alzheimer’s disease, type-2 diabetes mellitus, and some sporadic cardiac and vascular degenerative diseases; and 7) a high, invariant incidence ratio of sporadic to genetic forms of mid- and late-life CNDDs, and type-2 diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: There might be a systematic epidemiologic pattern induced by specific proteins (PrP, TDP-43, SOD1, α-synuclein, amyloid-β, tau, Langerhans islet peptide, and transthyretin) or established combinations of these.
Hepatic Hemangiosarcoma: An Absolute Contraindication to Liver Transplantation—The European Liver Transplant Registry Experience

Background Liver transplantation (LT) is performed for hemangiosarcoma (HAS) despite disappointing results. Methods Retrospective study of 14 males and 8 females reported to the European Liver Transplant Registry. In view of the difficult differential diagnosis between HAS and hemangioendothelioma (HE), the study was deliberately restricted to the period 1986 to 2004 to allow comparison of clinical and biochemical behavior of HAS and HE liver recipients transplanted during the same time period. Results Clinical signs, symptoms, and biochemical parameters differed significantly. Pre-LT diagnosis of HAS was made in only 5 of 16 (31%) biopsied patients. HE (7 patients) and hepatocellular cancer (2 patients) were confounding diagnoses leading to LT. Extrahepatic disease was present at time of LT in 4 (19%) patients. Giant invalidating tumor (5 HAS, 1 with Budd-Chiari syndrome [BCS], and 10 supposed epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, 1 with BCS), acute BCS of unknown origin (2 patients), chronic liver failure (4 patients), and solitary hepatocellular cancer (1 patient) were the main indications for LT. Overall survival was 7.2±2.6 months; no patient survived after 23 months. Recurrence was diagnosed after 5.0±2.6 months. Seventeen (77.2%) patients died of tumor recurrence, and the remaining 5 patients died of early infections. Conclusions HAS is an absolute contraindication to LT due to the poor outcome. When dealing with the difficult differential diagnosis between HAS and HE, futile LT can be avoided by taking into consideration their distinct clinical and biochemical behaviors as well as a 6-month wait-list observation period. This time period enables the evaluation of HAS disease progression without compromising prognosis of HE patients, thereby allowing to avoid organ wastage.
Serum homocysteine is associated with the severity of primary chronic venous disease

Objective This study was conducted to assess whether serum homocysteine concentration was associated with the severity of primary chronic venous disease. Design Cross-sectional study. Methods A total of 282 primary chronic venous disease patients were enrolled from outpatient vascular services. The severity of venous disease was graded using the Clinical Etiology Anatomy Pathophysiology classification system. The association of serum homocysteine concentration with advanced primary chronic venous disease (C4-6) was assessed using the Mann Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis. Results Median (interquartile range) serum homocysteine concentrations were 9.10 µM (7.55–10.75) and 10.40 µM (8.85–13.10) in patients with primary chronic venous disease classified by C1-3 (n = 209) and C4-6 (n = 73) grades, respectively, p < 0.001. Serum homocysteine concentration was positively associated with clinical grade 4–6 after adjusting for other risk factors including age, diabetes, male sex, hypertension, recurrent varicose veins and stroke. Patients with serum homocysteine in the third (odds ratio, 2.76, 95% confidence interval, 1.01–7.54) and fourth (odds ratio 3.29, 95% confidence interval 1.15–9.43) quartiles were more likely to have grade C4-6 chronic venous disease than subjects with serum homocysteine in the first quartile. Conclusions Serum homocysteine is positively associated with the severity of primary chronic venous disease and therefore could play a role in promoting chronic venous disease complications.
Effects of Health Information and Generic Advertising on U.S. Meat Demand

The dominant pattern in U.S. meat consumption over the past two decades has been a steady increase in per capita poultry consumption, largely at the expense of beef consumption. Our findings suggest that the major factor governing this pattern is structural change. Specifically, health information or trend was found to be significant in each of the four equations estimated in the Rotterdam system. Moreover, the health-information elasticities in general are larger in absolute value than price elasticities, which suggests that small percentage changes in health information have larger impacts on meat consumption than equivalently small percentage changes in relative prices. The estimated effects of generic advertising, in contrast, were found to be modest and fragile. Copyright 1997, Oxford University Press.
Institutional Repository Twisting techniques used by competitive divers

At the 1991 World Student Games, eight reverse 1 1 2 somersault dives with 2 1 2 twists were recorded during the men’s finals in the 1m and 3m springboard diving competitions using two video cameras. Angles describing body configuration were determined from video data and were input, together with initial orientation angle values and angular momentum components, into a computer simulation model of aerial movement in order to predict body orientation in space. Mean absolute deviations between simulation and video after the completion of one twist were 0.02 rev for somersault, 2.3◦ for tilt and 0.04 rev for twist. Contributions to the tilt angle after one twist were used as measures of the twisting potential of various techniques and were determined using simulations based on modifications of the video data. Seven of the eight competitors produced the majority of the tilt using aerial techniques which were predominantly asymmetrical movements of the arms and hips, although the mean contribution from contact techniques amounted to one-third of the total tilt.
Comparison of Fibrin Glue and Sutures for Conjunctival Wound Closure in Strabismus Surgery

Purpose To evaluate and compare the efficacy and tolerance of fibrin glue and sutures for closing conjunctival wounds in strabismus surgery. Methods In a prospective trial, we performed strabismus surgery using limbal incisions. Conjunctival wounds were closed with fibrin glue in 20 eyes of 20 patients (fibrin group) and 8-0 polyglactin suture in 20 eyes of 20 patients (suture group). Postoperative pain, tearing, and inflammation were compared at 1 day, 1 week, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks after surgery. Conjunctival incision healing was also investigated. Results One day and one week post-operatively, pain and tearing scores were lower in the fibrin group (p = 0.000, respectively). Mean surgery time was significantly shorter in the fibrin (48 ± 5 minutes) than the suture group (63 ± 7 minutes) (p = 0.000). Inflammation was significantly more severe in the suture group until 3 weeks postoperative (p = 0.000, respectively), but conjunctival healing did not differ between the groups. Hyperemia appeared more prominent in the fibrin group 3 and 6 weeks after surgery (p = 0.087 and 0.000, respectively). Two eyes in the fibrin group showed conjunctival gaps of more than 2 mm, which closed spontaneously by three weeks after surgery. No allergic reactions or infections developed. Conclusions Fibrin glue proved to be as effective as sutures in closing conjunctival wounds. It provides more comfortable early postoperative courses and might be considered as an alternative to sutures in strabismus surgery.
Purified chick embryo cell rabies vaccine: economical multisite intradermal regimen for post-exposure prophylaxis

SUMMARY The standard six-dose intramuscular (i.m.) rabies post-exposure vaccine regimen using a new purified chick embryo cell (PCEC) vaccine was compared with two economical multisite intradermal (i.d.) PCEC regimens, a multisite i.m. PCEC schedule and a subcutaneous regimen using a suckling mouse brain (SMB) rabies vaccine manufactured in Thailand. The neutralizing antibody results for the four-site and eight-site i.d. and the standard i.m. PCEC regimens were similar over 3 months. A three-site i.m. PCEC regimen had no advantage. The SMB vaccine gave the lowest antibody levels. Human rabies immune globulin therapy significantly increased the GMT of all groups on day 7, unlike equine antirabies serum (EARS). Both antisera suppressed antibody responses to PCEC on days 14 and 28. Three generalized reactions probably related to EARS were the only serious side effects. An eight-site i.d. PCEC vaccine regimen proved as immunogenic as the routine i.m. schedule and, if implemented as post-exposure prophylaxis, would be the cheapest widely available tissue culture vaccine regimen. The protective efficiency should now be tested in patients bitten by rabid animals.
Effectiveness of a bundled intervention of decolonization and prophylaxis to decrease Gram positive surgical site infections after cardiac or orthopedic surgery: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To evaluate studies assessing the effectiveness of a bundle of nasal decolonization and glycopeptide prophylaxis for preventing surgical site infections caused by Gram positive bacteria among patients undergoing cardiac operations or total joint replacement procedures. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources PubMed (1995 to 2011), the Cochrane database of systematic reviews, CINAHL, Embase, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched to identify relevant studies. Pertinent journals and conference abstracts were hand searched. Study authors were contacted if more data were needed. Eligibility criteria Randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies, and cohort studies that assessed nasal decolonization or glycopeptide prophylaxis, or both, for preventing Gram positive surgical site infections compared with standard care. Participants Patients undergoing cardiac operations or total joint replacement procedures. Data extraction and study appraisal Two authors independently extracted data from each paper and a random effects model was used to obtain summary estimates. Risk of bias was assessed using the Downs and Black or the Cochrane scales. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran Q and I2 statistics. Results 39 studies were included. Pooled effects of 17 studies showed that nasal decolonization had a significantly protective effect against surgical site infections associated with Staphylococcus aureus (pooled relative risk 0.39, 95% confidence interval 0.31 to 0.50) when all patients underwent decolonization (0.40, 0.29 to 0.55) and when only S aureus carriers underwent decolonization (0.36, 0.22 to 0.57). Pooled effects of 15 prophylaxis studies showed that glycopeptide prophylaxis was significantly protective against surgical site infections related to methicillin (meticillin) resistant S aureus (MRSA) compared with prophylaxis using β lactam antibiotics (0.40, 0.20 to 0.80), and a non-significant risk factor for methicillin susceptible S aureus infections (1.47, 0.91 to 2.38). Seven studies assessed a bundle including decolonization and glycopeptide prophylaxis for only patients colonized with MRSA and found a significantly protective effect against surgical site infections with Gram positive bacteria (0.41, 0.30 to 0.56). Conclusions Surgical programs that implement a bundled intervention including both nasal decolonization and glycopeptide prophylaxis for MRSA carriers may decrease rates of surgical site infections caused by S aureus or other Gram positive bacteria.
A review of the use of adapalene for the treatment of acne vulgaris

Acne is a disease of the pilosebaceous unit with involving abnormalities in sebum production, microbial flora changes, abnormal keratinization, and inflammation. There are several therapeutic options like topical and systemic retinoids, antibiotics, and systemic hormonal drugs. The topical retinoids a play very important role in the treatment of acne vulgaris. However, their use is limited due to skin irritation. A new generation product, adapalene is a good choice in the treatment of acne vulgaris with less side effects and high efficacy confirmed by numerous clinical studies.
The Institute of Medicine committee report "best care at lower cost: the path to continuously learning health care".

The new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, entitled “Better Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuous Learning Healthcare in America”1 promises to have the same impact on US healthcare as the prior IOM reports on quality and safety from a decade or more ago.2–4 Importantly, this report drew on information generated by the IOM Roundtable on Value and Science-Driven Healthcare, which produced 11 volumes exploring the challenges and opportunities in US healthcare delivery. Many leading cardiovascular providers participated in this roundtable effort and contributed to these volumes, so it is not surprising that the impact of “Better Care at Lower Cost” is likely to catalyze the transformation of cardiovascular healthcare delivery in the United States in the near future. A careful perusal of the report illustrates how much the current cardiovascular care environment needs to change to meet the “Better Care at Lower Cost” mandate of the report, while highlighting the enormous opportunity for cardiovascular care inherent in this transformation. The essential characteristics of a learning healthcare system as applied to cardiovascular disease care delivery are accurately reflected in the dimensions of science and informatics, patient-clinician partnerships, incentives, and culture. To meet the characteristics of these 4 dimensions, evolutionary changes will need to occur in each area: 1. In science and informatics, cardiovascular disease has in many ways led all organized medicine with respect to its nationally focused specialty-society databases and the data-driven information management systems typically used locally in cardiovascular medicine that allow collection, reporting, …
Biological variations of hematologic parameters determined by UniCel DxH 800 hematology analyzer.

CONTEXT The Coulter DxH 800 hematology analyzer can determine conventional hematologic parameters. It also provides many new hematologic parameters, some of which show potential clinical utility. OBJECTIVES To study, for the first time, the biological variations of new hematologic parameters and reinvestigate the biological variations of conventional hematologic parameters using the newest Coulter hematology analyzer. DESIGN Forty adult volunteers (21 women and 19 men) were included. All participants maintained their normal lifestyles. Blood samples were drawn in duplicate by a single experienced phlebotomist and analyzed within 2 hours using a single analyzer. Before each batch analysis, the instrument quality controls were performed using the same lots of reagents. RESULTS Within-subject and between-subject biological variations for the conventional hematologic parameters were compatible with published data. The analytic variation of the DxH 800 for these parameters appeared smaller. Index of individuality (ratio of within-subject to between-subject biological variation) for all parameters was low. In addition, intraday and interday biological variations of most parameters studied are fairly constant among the population examined. CONCLUSIONS These observations are clinically valuable. Data on within-subject biological variation and analytic precision may be used to generate objective delta-check values for use in quality management. Comparing within-subject and between-subject biological variation on new parameters may allow us to decide the utility of traditional population-based reference ranges. Furthermore, documentation of biological variations of new parameters is an essential prerequisite in the development of any clinical application in the future.