Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Independent and Supra-Additive Effects of Alcohol Consumption, Cigarette Smoking, and Metabolic Syndrome on the Elevation of Serum Liver Enzyme Levels

We investigated the independent and combined effects of alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and metabolic syndrome on abnormal liver function, i.e., the elevation of serum liver enzyme levels. Participants of a Korean population-based prospective cohort aged ≥30 years without liver disease, diabetes, or cardiovascular diseases were included. Information on alcohol consumption, smoking status, and metabolic syndrome, defined as per the criteria of the Adult Treatment Panel III, were applied to evaluate their impact on serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT). Alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and metabolic syndrome were the significant individual factors that elevated serum liver enzyme levels. Supra-additive effects of metabolic syndrome and either alcohol consumption or cigarette smoking were also identified. The combination of heavy drinking (≥24 g/day) and metabolic syndrome conferred an effect that was higher than the sum of the two individual effects (Synergic Index (SI): AST, 2.37 [1.20–4.67]; GGT, 1.91 [1.17–3.13]). Only GGT level (odds ratio 6.04 [3.68–9.94], SI 2.33 [1.24–4.41]) was significantly elevated when the effect of moderate drinking (<24 g/day) and metabolic syndrome was combined. The combined effect of any level of alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking was also supra-additive on the elevation of GGT level with SIs of 5.57 for drinking <24 g/day and smoking ≤20 pack years, 5.12 for <24 g/day and >20 pack years, 1.80 for ≥24 g/day and ≤20 pack years, 2.03 for ≥24 g/day and >20 pack years, while only the combined effect of drinking ≥24 g/day and smoking >20 pack years elevated the AST level (SI 4.55 [3.12–6.61]). The combined effect of cigarette smoking and metabolic syndrome was not supra-additive. To prevent fatty liver disease and other related diseases, a multifactorial prevention strategy that includes limited alcohol consumption, smoking cessation and rectification of adverse metabolic profiles is required.
Faculty-Student Collaborations: Ethics and Satisfaction in Authorship Credit

In the academic world, a researcher's number of publications can carry huge professional and financial rewards. This truth has led to many unethical authorship assignments throughout the world of publishing, including within faculty-student collaborations. Although the American Psychological Association (APA) passed a revised code of ethics in 1992 with special rules pertaining to such collaborative efforts, it is widely acknowledged that unethical assignments of authorship credit continue to occur regularly. This study found that of the 604 APA-member respondents, 165 (27.3%) felt they had been involved in an unethical or unfair authorship assignment. Furthermore, nontenured faculty members and women were statistically more likely to be involved in an unethical or unfair assignment of authorship credit than tenured faculty members or men.
Feasibility Assessment of Micro-Electrode Chip Assay as a Method of Detecting Neurotoxicity in vitro

Detection and characterization of chemically induced toxic effects in the nervous system represent a challenge for the hazard assessment of chemicals. In vivo, neurotoxicological assessments exploit the fact that the activity of neurons in the central and peripheral nervous system has functional consequences. And so far, no in vitro method for evaluating the neurotoxic hazard has yet been validated and accepted for regulatory purpose. The micro-electrode array (MEA) assay consists of a culture chamber into which an integrated array of micro-electrodes is capable of measuring extracellular electrophysiology (spikes and bursts) from electro-active tissues. A wide variety of electrically excitable biological tissues may be placed onto the chips including primary cultures of nervous system tissue. Recordings from this type of in vitro cultured system are non-invasive, give label free evaluations and provide a higher throughput than conventional electrophysiological techniques. In this paper, 20 substances were tested in a blinded study for their toxicity and dose–response curves were obtained from fetal rat cortical neuronal networks coupled to MEAs. The experimental procedure consisted of evaluating the firing activity (spiking rate) and modification/reduction in response to chemical administration. Native/reference activity, 30 min of activity recording per dilution, plus the recovery points (after 24 h) were recorded. The preliminary data, using a set of chemicals with different mode-of-actions (13 known to be neurotoxic, 2 non-neuroactive and not toxic, and 5 non-neuroactive but toxic) show good predictivity (sensitivity: 0.77; specificity: 0.86; accuracy: 0.85). Thus, the MEA with a neuronal network has the potency to become an effective tool to evaluate the neurotoxicity of substances in vitro.
Mirtazapine versus other antidepressants in the acute-phase treatment of adults with major depression: systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE To conduct a comprehensive, systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and tolerability of mirtazapine over other antidepressants in the acute-phase treatment of major depression. DATA SOURCES Studies were initially identified through electronic searches of the Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Controlled Trials Register up to June 2006. The following search terms were used: depress*, dysthymi*, adjustment disorder*, mood disorder*, affective disorder, affective symptoms, and mirtazapine. No language restriction was imposed. The reference lists of the included studies, previous relevant systematic reviews, and trial registers were also hand searched. Pharmaceutical companies and experts in the field were contacted for more studies. STUDY SELECTION Twenty-five randomized controlled trials were included. DATA EXTRACTION Two independent assessors examined the quality of the trials and extracted data on an intention-to-treat basis. DATA SYNTHESIS The primary outcome measure was the relative risk (RR) of response (99% CIs) at the conclusion of acute-phase treatment. In relation to the early phase of treatment (at 2 weeks), there were no statistically significant differences between mirtazapine and the tricyclics in terms of the response (RR = 0.90, 99% CI = 0.69 to 1.18, p = .30 [8 trials contributed to this outcome]) or remission (RR = 0.87, 99% CI = 0.52 to 1.47, p = .50 [8 trials]) outcomes, but mirtazapine was superior to the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in terms of both the response (RR = 1.36, 99% CI = 1.13 to 1.64, p < .0001 [12 trials]) and remission (RR = 1.68, 99% CI = 1.20 to 2.36, p < .0001 [12 trials]). In the subgroup analyses, mirtazapine significantly produced more response than paroxetine (RR = 2.02, 99% CI = 1.09 to 3.75, p = .003 [3 trials]) and venlafaxine (RR = 1.77, 99% CI = 1.08 to 2.89, p = .003 [2 trials]). At the end of acute-phase treatment (6-12 weeks, all trials), no significant differences were observed in the efficacy outcomes. No significant differences were observed between mirtazapine and the other antidepressants in terms of either the total number of dropouts due to any reason (21 trials) or the total number of dropouts due to the development of side effect (23 trials) during the trials. CONCLUSIONS Although mirtazapine is likely to have a faster onset of action than SSRIs, no significant differences were observed at the end of 6 to 12 weeks' treatment. Clinicians should focus on other practically relevant considerations to tailor treatment to best fit the needs of individual patients.
Roadside Drug Testing in New South Wales

Drug driving is widely acknowledged as an international challenge for road safety. In NSW, per se legislation introduced in December 2006 stipulates that a driver may be charged with an offence if the presence of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), methylamphetamine, or methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) is detected in oral fluid during roadside testing by Police. Positive samples are confirmed by NSW Health Division of Analytical Laboratories. Between January 2007 and December 2010, 83928 roadside drug tests were conducted in NSW, resulting in 1645 positive results. This paper documents the trends in enforcement levels of roadside drug testing in NSW from 2007-2010. Characteristics of offenders including age, gender, licence class, and licence status are examined. Characteristics are reported for light vehicle drivers/riders and heavy vehicle drivers. Methylamphetamines were found to be the most frequently detected drug for the four years of roadside testing. The overall detection rate of drugs fell from 2.7% in the first year of operations and has remained constant at 1.9% in subsequent years. Results are discussed in terms of deterrence theory and future directions for roadside drug testing.
The Role and Function of Narrative in Tourist Interaction

Tourist experiences are often profound and help to shape the social world of actors. Memories of travels become part of lived experiences to share with others. Experiences of travels or holidays achieve iconic status in everyday lives, and are communicated through the stories of life into lived identities. Accounts of touristic experiences in naturalistic everyday interaction have a story-like quality to them which become mythologised, fabled and flamboyantly and richly narrated to friends and relatives back home. However it is often extremely difficult to collect naturally occurring data of these storied experiences. Interviews in contrast appear to have a more structured and less naturalistic quality. This paper argues that using less structured interview situations, and a very close, fine-detailed analysis of interview data that draws upon socio-linguistic approaches, it is possible to reveal the underlying narrative structure of accounts for and of touristic experience. The paper argues that the natural attitude of the tourist is a ‘narrativistic’ attitude, that an account of touristic experience requires the development of a story, to define, describe and provide reasoned accounts for touristic events. Thus stories are crucial to the development of touristic accounts, and understandings of touristic experience must take account of these narrative structures in order to fully understand what tourists do when they talk about their experiences: they talk about their identities and their worlds. This paper explores how such narratives are constructed and what ‘things’ (other than the events themselves) they communicate.
Lack of influence of COMT and NET genes variants on executive functions in schizophrenic and bipolar patients, their first‐degree relatives and controls

Abnormal dopaminergic function in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) may be a key factor in the etiopathogeny of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Both schizophrenic and bipolar subjects have executive functions (EF) deficits, thought to reflect abnormal PFC function. The main inactivation pathways for dopamine in the PFC are enzymatic cleavage by the Carboxy‐O‐Methyl‐Transferase (COMT) and reuptake by the nor‐epinephrine transporter (NET). Our aim in this study was to replicate previous studies that investigated influence of the COMT genotype on EF in schizophrenic subjects, their relatives and controls and extend their scope by including bipolar patients, and their relatives and by exploring NET gene polymorphisms influence on executive performances. We investigated one functional polymorphism of the COMT gene and two polymorphisms of the NET gene. EF were assessed by means of the Trail Making Test (TMT) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). We assessed the effect of each of the three genotypes on EF for the whole sample (N = 318) and separately in schizophrenic (N = 66), bipolar (N = 94) and healthy subjects (i.e., relatives and controls N = 158). Separate analyses were performed because of the presence, in patients samples, of potentially confounding factors, especially medication. Genotype had no significant effect on the cognitive measures in any of the analyses (for the two EF measures, the three polymorphisms, and the four groups). In our sample we found no evidence in favor of a major effect of COMT or NET polymorphisms on the two tests of EF. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cool, Creative and Egalitarian? Exploring Gender in Project-Based New Media Work in Euro

The new media industries are popularly regarded as cool, creative and egalitarian. This view is held by academics, policy-makers and also by new media workers themselves, who cite the youth, dynamism and informality of new media as some of its main attractions. This paper is concerned with what this mythologized version of new media work leaves out, glosses over and, indeed, makes difficult to articulate at all. Themes include pervasive insecurity, low pay, and long hours but the particular focus of the paper is on gender inequalities in new media work. Despite its image as 'cool', non-hierarchical and egalitarian, the new media sector, this paper will argue, is characterized by a number of entrenched and all too old-fashioned patterns of gender inequality relating to education, access to work and pay. Moreover, a number of new forms of gender inequality are emerging, connected - paradoxically - to many of the features of the work that are valued - informality,autonomy,flexibility and so on. Drawing on a study of 125 freelance new media workers in six European countries, this paper explores these issues and argues that the new forms of sexism in new media represent a serious challenge to its image of itself as cool, diverse and egalitarian.
Unpacking Masculinities in the Context of Social Change

Through analysis of fifty in-depth interviews with married men from different socioeconomic backgrounds and ages in seven provinces in Turkey, this article examines the internal dilemmas and contradictions in the construction of masculine identities in the context of social change in the country. The focus is on men’s experiences of most salient relational contexts with their parents, their children, and their spouses, and the possible implications of these relational experiences as well as prevailing social discourses for how these men negotiate masculinity. Overall, the men’s narratives indicate that both the relationship with the children and with the wife are relationships in transition, reflected in the dilemmas and contradictions at the discursive level, as well as between discourse and lived reality, resulting from the juxtaposition of relatively traditional backgrounds and the prevailing discourse of traditionalism with the emerging modernist discourse of egalitarianism. Findings are discussed in the context of the relevant literature and the socio-cultural context.
“There Will Only Be Lots of Chit-Chat”: How Hamas Leaders and Media Interviewers Handle Controversial Topics

This article examines media interviews with Hamas political leaders conducted between January 2006 and December 2008, immediately before the outbreak of war in Gaza. The analysis presented here focuses on the role of footing shifts in the posing of challenging questions and their consequential relevance for the exchange that followed in which Hamas leaders attended to interviewers' challenging questions and provided their own accounts. The results show that interviewers' footing shifts confer interactional benefits on interviewers and interviewees alike. Such footing shifts allow all participants to construct their discussion as being “newsworthy” in being relevant to a wider audience and allow interviewers to do “neutralism. ” At the same time, footing shifts that attribute contentious allegations to third parties allow interviewees to criticize the nominated sources. In so doing, initial footing shifts enable discussions of contentious topics to proceed without breakdown.
Short versus Long Infusion of Meropenem in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Neonates

ABSTRACT Prolonged infusion of meropenem has been suggested in studies with population pharmacokinetic modeling but has not been tested in neonates. We compared the steady-state pharmacokinetics (PK) of meropenem given as a short (30-min) or prolonged (4-h) infusion to very-low-birth-weight (gestational age, <32 weeks; birth weight, <1,200 g) neonates to define the appropriate dosing regimen for a phase 3 efficacy study. Short (n = 9) or prolonged (n = 10) infusions of meropenem were given at a dose of 20 mg/kg every 12 h. Immediately before and 0.5, 1.5, 4, 8, and 12 h after the 4th to 7th doses of meropenem, blood samples were collected. Meropenem concentrations were measured by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography. PK analysis was performed with WinNonlin software, and modeling was performed with NONMEM software. A short infusion resulted in a higher mean drug concentration in serum (Cmax) than a prolonged infusion (89 versus 54 mg/liter). In all but two patients in the prolonged-infusion group, the free serum drug concentration was above the MIC (2 mg/liter) 100% of the time. Meropenem clearance (CL) was not influenced by postnatal or postmenstrual age. In population PK analysis, a one-compartment model provided the best fit and the steady-state distribution volume (Vss) was scaled with body weight and CL with a published renal maturation function. The covariates serum creatinine and postnatal and gestational ages did not improve the model fit. The final parameter estimates were a Vss of 0.301 liter/kg and a CL of 0.061 liter/h/kg. Meropenem infusions of 30 min are acceptable as they balance a reasonably high Cmax with convenience of dosing. In very-low-birth-weight neonates, no dosing adjustment is needed over the first month of life.
Assessing the deaf user perspective on sign language avatars

Signing avatars have the potential to become a useful and even cost-effective method to make written content more accessible for Deaf people. However, avatar research is characterized by the fact that most researchers are not members of the Deaf community, and that Deaf people as potential users have little or no knowledge about avatars. Therefore, we suggest two well-known methods, focus groups and online studies, as a two-way information exchange between research and the Deaf community. Our aim was to assess signing avatar acceptability, shortcomings of current avatars and potential use cases. We conducted two focus group interviews (N=8) and, to quantify important issues, created an accessible online user study(N=317). This paper deals with both the methodology used and the elicited opinions and criticism. While we found a positive baseline response to the idea of signing avatars, we also show that there is a statistically significant increase in positive opinion caused by participating in the studies. We argue that inclusion of Deaf people on many levels will foster acceptance as well as provide important feedback regarding key aspects of avatar technology that need to be improved.
Choroidal Watershed Zone and Growth of Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy

ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate the topographic relationship between polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) growth and choroidal watershed zones (CWZ) by using indocyanine green angiography (ICGA). Materials and Methods: We evaluated PCV lesions smaller than the CWZ at baseline and followed up more than 6 months. The CWZ was traced in the early phase ICGA at baseline. The vascular lesion of PCV was traced in baseline and follow-up ICGA. These traces were overlapped and topographic relationships between CWZs and PCV growth were evaluated. Results: Among 31 eyes of 31 patients, enlargement of a PCV lesion was observed in 20 patients (64.5%) at mean follow-up of 30.4 months (6–68 months). A topographical relationship between the CWZ and PCV growth was demonstrated in 14 eyes (70.0%), as the shape of the PCV lesion conformed to the boundary of the CWZ, and/or the growth of the branching vascular network was aligned to the direction of the CWZ extension to the periphery. Growth beyond the boundary of the CWZ was noted in 9 eyes (45.0%), however growth area was greater inside the CWZ than outside in all eyes. Of 15 eyes of extrafoveal lesion at baseline, 8 eyes in which the vascular lesion progressed to the fovea had the CWZ involving the fovea, whereas PCV in three eyes with an extrafoveal CWZ remained as a non-subfoveal disease after mean follow-up of 17.0 months (p = 0.019). Conclusions: A subfoveal CWZ was related to PCV growth to the fovea. Topographical relationships between PCV growth and the CWZ suggest that choroidal circulation is a predisposition for PCV growth.
The Evaluation of Nosocomial Infections in Pediatric Patients with Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support

Introduction Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has become a standard technique over the past few decades in intensive care unit (ICU). Objective A review of pediatric patients who received ECMO support in the pediatric cardiac ICU was conducted to determine the incidence, risk factors and causal organisms related to acquired infections and assess the survival rates of ECMO patients with nosocomial infections. Methods Sixty-six patients who received ECMO support in the pediatric cardiac ICU between January 2011 and June 2014 were included in the study. Demographic, echocardiographic, hemodynamic features and surgical procedures were reviewed. Results Sixty-six patients received a total of 292.5 days of venoarterial ECMO support. Sixty were postoperative patients. Forty-five patients were weaned from ECMO support with an ECMO survival rate of 68.2%. The rate of infection was 116.2/1000 ECMO days. Prolonged ICU stay, duration of ventilation and ECMO were found associated with development of nosocomial infection and only the duration of ECMO was an independent risk factor for nosocomial infections in ECMO patients. Conclusion The correction of the underlying process leading to ECMO support and shortening the length of ECMO duration together with stricter application of ECMO indications would improve the infection incidence and hospital surveillance of the patient group.
Prevalence of Sindbis Virus Neutralizing Antibodies Among Swedish Passerines Indicates that Thrushes are the Main Amplifying Hosts

Abstract The Sindbis virus uses birds as vertebrate hosts in the summer amplification cycle, and the virus is transmitted by ornithophilic Culex species. Previous field and experimental studies have shown that mainly passerine birds are involved in the amplification. To delineate the pattern of Sindbis virus infections among passerines, we collected and sampled birds for blood at five study sites located in northern, central, and southern Sweden. All study sites were lowland forested wetlands and humid forests. The blood samples were assayed for Sindbis neutralizing antibodies, and we tested if the prevalence of Sindbis antibodies varied in relation to bird characteristics (i.e., species, body-mass, sex, and age), and environmental factors (i.e., year, month, and location). We found that Sindbis virus infections occurred in almost all passerine species sampled, but that the infection prevalence was unequally distributed among species. The fieldfare, the redwing, and the songthrush each had significantly higher prevalence than the average for all species. Large passerine species had higher infection prevalence than small species. The infection was less prevalent in hatching-year birds than in older birds during June and July, but not in August. Males and females had the same infection prevalence. The prevalence of Sindbis antibodies was higher in central than in southern Sweden, which coincided with a higher proportion of fieldfare–redwing–songthrush samples in the central region of the country. Thus, it is possible that regional and annual variations in the prevalence of Sindbis antibodies in Swedish passerine species depend on the number of fieldfares, redwings, and songthrushes available for feeding by vector mosquitoes.