Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Persistence and costs with subcutaneous TNF-alpha inhibitors in immune-mediated rheumatic disease stratified by treatment line

Objectives The objectives of this study were to 1) describe and compare treatment persistence with first- and second-line subcutaneous tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors (SC-TNFis) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (collectively immune-mediated rheumatic disease) in Sweden and 2) estimate and contrast health care costs in the two groups. Methods Patients who initiated their first or second SC-TNFi between May 6 2010 and December 12 2012 were identified from the Prescribed Drug Register. Persistence was estimated using survival analysis. Costs comprised specialized outpatient care, inpatient care, and medication. The persistence analysis was stratified by immune-mediated rheumatic disease diagnosis. Results A total of 4,903 patients treated with their first and 845 patients treated with their second SC-TNFi were identified. Baseline characteristics differed between the two groups. Therefore, propensity score matching analysis was implemented. Second-line patients were matched to first-line patients, and four cohort pairs (AS, PsA, RA, and all diagnoses combined) were generated. Patients treated with their first SC-TNFi had statistically significant higher persistence than patients treated with their second SC-TNFi in PsA (P=0.036), RA (P=0.048), and all diagnoses combined (P<0.001) but not in AS (P=0.741). Patients who were treated with their second SC-TNFi incurred higher costs than patients treated with their first SC-TNFi. Conclusion Overall, persistence to the first SC-TNFi was higher than persistence to the second SC-TNFi. Furthermore, the second SC-TNFi was associated with higher costs than the first SC-TNFi. Therefore, prescribing the SC-TNFi with the best long-term persistence first may be beneficial.
Comparative Efficacy of Intracoronary Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Cardiosphere-Derived Cells in Swine with Hibernating Myocardium.

RATIONALE Allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) have each entered clinical trials, but a direct comparison of these cell types has not been performed in a large animal model of hibernating myocardium. OBJECTIVE Using completely blinded methodology, we compared the efficacy of global intracoronary allogeneic MSCs (icMSCs, ≈35×10(6)) and CDCs (icCDCs, ≈35×10(6)) versus vehicle in cyclosporine-immunosuppressed swine with a chronic left anterior descending coronary artery stenosis (n=26). METHODS AND RESULTS Studies began 3 months after instrumentation when wall thickening was reduced (left anterior descending coronary artery % wall thickening [mean±SD], 38±11% versus 83±26% in remote; P<0.01) and similar among groups. Four weeks after treatment, left anterior descending coronary artery % wall thickening increased similarly after icCDCs and icMSCs, whereas it remained depressed in vehicle-treated controls (icMSCs, 51±13%; icCDCs, 51±17%; vehicle, 34±3%, treatments P<0.05 versus vehicle). There was no change in myocardial perfusion. Both icMSCs and icCDCs increased left anterior descending coronary artery myocyte nuclear density (icMSCs, 1601±279 nuclei/mm(2); icCDCs, 1569±294 nuclei/mm(2); vehicle, 973±181 nuclei/mm(2); treatments P<0.05 versus vehicle) and reduced myocyte diameter (icMSCs, 16.4±1.5 μm; icCDCs, 16.8±1.2 μm; vehicle, 20.2±3.7 μm; treatments P<0.05 versus vehicle) to the same extent. Similar changes in myocyte nuclear density and diameter were observed in the remote region of cell-treated animals. Cell fate analysis using Y-chromosome fluorescent in situ hybridization demonstrated rare cells from sex-mismatched donors. CONCLUSIONS Allogeneic icMSCs and icCDCs exhibit comparable therapeutic efficacy in a large animal model of hibernating myocardium. Both cell types produced equivalent increases in regional function and stimulated myocyte regeneration in ischemic and remote myocardium. The activation of endogenous myocyte proliferation and regression of myocyte cellular hypertrophy support a common mechanism of cardiac repair.
Evaluation of knowledge of Health care professionals on warfarin interactions with drug and herb medicinal in Central Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To evaluate health care professionals’ knowledge on warfarin interactions with drugs and herbs. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was developed to assess health care professionals’ knowledge on warfarin interactions with drug and herb. Respondents were asked to classify 15 drugs that may effect on warfarin action as “enhance”, “inhibit “, “no effect”. The study sample involved health care professionals (physicians, pharmacists and nurses) from king Salman hospital, Saudi Arabia. Results: About 92.2% of health care professionals identified warfarin interactions with aspirin, 4.4% for warfarin and fluoxetine. Warfarin and cardiac agents (atenolol) was correctly identified by 11.1% of respondents. In warfarin –herb interactions section, the majority of respondents (66.7%) identified the interaction between green tea and warfarin. Approximately one-third of respondents (n=33) correctly classified warfarin interactions with cardamom. No significant difference was found between the health care professionals (p=0.49) for warfarin-drug interactions knowledge score and p= 0.52 for warfarin- herb interactions knowledge score. Conclusion: This study suggests that health care professionals’ knowledge of warfarin- drug-herb interactions was inadequate. Therefore, health care professionals should receive more education programs about drug-drug/herb interactions to provide appropriate patient counseling and optimal therapeutic outcomes.
Enhancing peer interaction during guided play in Finnish integrated special groups*

ABSTRACT This article focused on the pedagogy that enhances peer interaction in integrated special groups. In Finland, most children identified as having special educational needs (SEN) attend day-care in mainstream kindergarten groups; the rest are in integrated or segregated early childhood special education (ECSE) groups in public day-care centres [National Institute of Health and Welfare. 2013. “Child Day Care 2013 – Municipal Survey. ” Accessed March 15, 2016. https://www.julkari. fi/bitstream/handle/10024/116231/Tr16_14. pdf? sequence=4]. An integrated group, which typically consists of seven children without and five with SEN, is supposed to be an inclusive environment that provides an atmosphere in which every child can feel togetherness and be scaffolded [Pihlaja, P. 2009. “Erityisen tuen käytännöt varhaiskasvatuksessa – näkökulmana inkluusio. ” [The Special Education Practices in Early Childhood Education – Inclusion as Viewpoint. ] Kasvatus 2: 146–156]. Our aim was to examine how ECSE professionals’ pedagogical practices were used to enhance peer interaction in interactive play. We analysed 14 videotaped sessions of guided play and conceptualized the studied phenomenon by portraying five guidance types in which the identified pedagogical practices were used in different ways.
AUC Optimisation and Collaborative Filtering

In recommendation systems, one is interested in the ranking of the predicted items as opposed to other losses such as the mean squared error. Although a variety of ways to evaluate rankings exist in the literature, here we focus on the Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) as it widely used and has a strong theoretical underpinning. In practical recommendation, only items at the top of the ranked list are presented to the users. With this in mind, we propose a class of objective functions over matrix factorisations which primarily represent a smooth surrogate for the real AUC, and in a special case we show how to prioritise the top of the list. The objectives are differentiable and optimised through a carefully designed stochastic gradient-descent-based algorithm which scales linearly with the size of the data. In the special case of square loss we show how to improve computational complexity by leveraging previously computed measures. To understand theoretically the underlying matrix factorisation approaches we study both the consistency of the loss functions with respect to AUC, and generalisation using Rademacher theory. The resulting generalisation analysis gives strong motivation for the optimisation under study. Finally, we provide computation results as to the efficacy of the proposed method using synthetic and real data.
Relationships between Time Perspectives and Procrastination of Employees with Different Job Titles

This paper describes the current state of the problem of time perspectives and the phenomenon of procrastination in professional activities. The paper is primarily focused on special aspects of time perspectives and procrastination of employees with different job titles. The paper contains an empirical study of the interrelation of time perspective and procrastination of employees with different job titles. The results show that top managers usually focus highly on future time perspectives (59.03) and the positive past (36.06). Their level of procrastination is lower (53.45). Groups of middle managers show high procrastination (57.2); they focus on hedonist present (24.6) and the negative past (31.26). The article proves a statistically significant level of distinctions of procrastination expressiveness on the entire sample (1211 at p≤.01). A connection between life-purpose orientation and time representation was established: the most effective life-purpose orientations for top management were ‘life goals’ (35.28), ‘locus control - life’ (32.7) and ‘sense of purpose of life’ (155.25); in the middle management group these facts are faintly expressed. Correlation analysis using the Spearman’s Rho allowed us to highlight a high level of procrastination in the middle management group determined by their orientation on time perspective of negative past against low focus on the future that complicates the success of professional activities. The regression analysis revealed the main predictors of procrastination in the groups of top managers (aims in life, process of life and locus control-ego) and middle managers (Fatalistic present and future). It may be assumed that personal time perspective and its time orientation are interconnected with procrastination processes and can be considered both negative and positive consequences that aligns with the results of the latest research examining procrastination in professional activities.
How Important Is Precautionary Saving?

We estimate how much of the wealth of a sample of respondents to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics is held because some households face more income uncertainty than others. We begin by solving a theoretical model of saving, which we use to develop appropriate measures of uncertainty. We then regress households' wealth on our measures of uncertainty, and find substantial evidence that households engage in precautionary saving. Finally, we simulate the wealth distribution that our empirical results imply would prevail if all households had the same uncertainty as the lowest uncertainty group. We find that between 32 and 50 of wealth in our sample is attributable to the extra uncertainty that some consumers face compared to the lowest uncertainty group.
GTPase of the Immune-Associated Nucleotide Protein 5 Regulates the Lysosomal Calcium Compartment in T Lymphocytes

T lymphocytes from Gimap5lyp/lyp rats carrying a recessive mutation in the GTPase of immune-associated protein 5 (Gimap5) gene undergo spontaneous apoptosis. Molecular mechanisms underlying this survival defect are not yet clear. We have shown that Gimap5lyp/lyp T lymphocytes display reduced calcium influx following T cell antigen receptor (TCR) stimulation that was associated with impaired buffering of calcium by mitochondria. Here, we investigated the subcellular localization of GIMAP5 and its influence on Ca2+ response in HEK293T cells and T lymphocytes. The more abundantly expressed GIMAP5v2 localizes to the lysosome and certain endosomal vesicles. Gimap5lyp/lyp T lymphocytes showed increased accumulation of calcium in the lysosomes as evidenced by Gly-Phe β-naphthylamide (GPN) triggered Ca2+ release. As a corollary, GPN-induced Ca2+ flux was decreased in HEK293T cells expressing GIMAP5v2. Strikingly, TCR stimulation of rat, mouse, and human T lymphocytes increased lysosomal calcium content. Overall, our findings show that lysosomes modulate cellular Ca2+ response during T cell activation and that GIMAP5 regulates the lysosomal Ca2+ compartment in T lymphocytes.
Epidemiological characteristics and genetic structure of blaNDM-1 in non-baumannii Acinetobacter spp. in China.

OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to investigate the epidemiological characteristics and the surrounding genetic structure of bla(NDM-1) in non-baumannii Acinetobacter spp. in China. METHODS Non-baumannii Acinetobacter spp. were collected from 28 provinces in China and were screened for the presence of bla(NDM-1) using PCR. The following four methods were used to classify the Acinetobacter isolates: the Vitek 2 system, 16S-23S rRNA gene intergenic spacer sequencing, amplified rDNA restriction analysis and partial rpoB sequence analysis. An S1-PFGE assay and Southern blot hybridization were performed to determine the plasmid location of bla(NDM-1). The transferability of bla(NDM-1)-harbouring plasmids was confirmed by conjugation experiments and electrotransformation. The surrounding genetic structure of the bla(NDM-1) gene was analysed using a restriction endonuclease-based cloning approach and primer walking. RESULTS Among 726 non-baumannii Acinetobacter spp. , nine isolates collected from six different provinces and assigned to seven different Acinetobacter spp. contained the bla(NDM-1) gene. None of these isolates was directly infectious to the patients or demonstrated an epidemiological importation from abroad. These bla(NDM-1) genes were located on plasmids that could be transferred to Escherichia coli J53 by conjugation and Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 by electrotransformation. Seven of the nine strains shared a common genetic structure in which bla(NDM-1) was flanked by two copies of ISAba125. CONCLUSIONS The clinical challenge posed by bla(NDM-1) is currently minimal in China; however, more attention should be devoted to monitoring the dissemination of this gene due to its potential transferability via the ISAba125-associated transposon.
Local CD4 and CD8 T-Cell Reactivity to HSV-1 Antigens Documents Broad Viral Protein Expression and Immune Competence in Latently Infected Human Trigeminal Ganglia

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection results in lifelong chronic infection of trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons, also referred to as neuronal HSV-1 latency, with periodic reactivation leading to recrudescent herpetic disease in some persons. HSV-1 proteins are expressed in a temporally coordinated fashion during lytic infection, but their expression pattern during latent infection is largely unknown. Selective retention of HSV-1 reactive T-cells in human TG suggests their role in controlling reactivation by recognizing locally expressed HSV-1 proteins. We characterized the HSV-1 proteins recognized by virus-specific CD4 and CD8 T-cells recovered from human HSV-1–infected TG. T-cell clusters, consisting of both CD4 and CD8 T-cells, surrounded neurons and expressed mRNAs and proteins consistent with in situ antigen recognition and antiviral function. HSV-1 proteome-wide scans revealed that intra-TG T-cell responses included both CD4 and CD8 T-cells directed to one to three HSV-1 proteins per person. HSV-1 protein ICP6 was targeted by CD8 T-cells in 4 of 8 HLA-discordant donors. In situ tetramer staining demonstrated HSV-1-specific CD8 T-cells juxtaposed to TG neurons. Intra-TG retention of virus-specific CD4 T-cells, validated to the HSV-1 peptide level, implies trafficking of viral proteins from neurons to HLA class II-expressing non-neuronal cells for antigen presentation. The diversity of viral proteins targeted by TG T-cells across all kinetic and functional classes of viral proteins suggests broad HSV-1 protein expression, and viral antigen processing and presentation, in latently infected human TG. Collectively, the human TG represents an immunocompetent environment for both CD4 and CD8 T-cell recognition of HSV-1 proteins expressed during latent infection. HSV-1 proteins recognized by TG-resident T-cells, particularly ICP6 and VP16, are potential HSV-1 vaccine candidates.
Volunteer Lake Monitoring: Testing the Reliability of Data Collected by the Florida LAKEWATCH Program

ABSTRACT Because the use of volunteer samplers is a very cost-effective way to collect large amounts of information on lakes over space and time, we studied the reliability of the protocols used by the Florida LAKEWATCH program. We found that chlorophyll extractions with hot ethanol gave values that were no different from those obtained with the standard method of grinding with acetone. In a comparative study of 125 lakes we found the data collected by volunteers were comparable to those collected by professionals. Mean Secchi disk depth, TP, TN, and chlorophyll values obtained by the citizens were strongly correlated (r > 0.99) to the mean values obtained by the professionals. To determine if freezing was a valid means of preserving water samples prior to analysis, we compared estimates of chlorophyll, TP, TN, pH, total alkalinity, and specific conductance obtained from fresh samples with estimates obtained from samples frozen up to 150 days. For most lakes there was little difference in chemical measurements made in samples preserved by freezing for different lengths of time, and various statistical tests indicated that freezing was a valid means of preserving lake water samples prior to analysis. Water quality data produced by volunteer samplers following the LAKEWATCH protocols were just as good as those from samples collected by professional biologists and handled using standard methods of sample preservation. The fact that volunteers can collect credible data means that lake management agencies could amplify their limited budgets by using volunteer monitoring, to sample more lakes and to sample them more frequently.
California Wildfires of 2008: Coarse and Fine Particulate Matter Toxicity

Background During the last week of June 2008, central and northern California experienced thousands of forest and brush fires, giving rise to a week of severe fire-related particulate air pollution throughout the region. California experienced PM10–2.5 (particulate matter with mass median aerodynamic diameter > 2.5 μm to < 10 μm; coarse ) and PM2.5 (particulate matter with mass median aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 μm; fine) concentrations greatly in excess of the air quality standards and among the highest values reported at these stations since data have been collected. Objectives These observations prompt a number of questions about the health impact of exposure to elevated levels of PM10–2.5 and PM2.5 and about the specific toxicity of PM arising from wildfires in this region. Methods Toxicity of PM10–2.5 and PM2.5 obtained during the time of peak concentrations of smoke in the air was determined with a mouse bioassay and compared with PM samples collected under normal conditions from the region during the month of June 2007. Results Concentrations of PM were not only higher during the wildfire episodes, but the PM was much more toxic to the lung on an equal weight basis than was PM collected from normal ambient air in the region. Toxicity was manifested as increased neutrophils and protein in lung lavage and by histologic indicators of increased cell influx and edema in the lung. Conclusions We conclude that the wildfire PM contains chemical components toxic to the lung, especially to alveolar macrophages, and they are more toxic to the lung than equal doses of PM collected from ambient air from the same region during a comparable season.
Nonlinear Outcome of Gravitational Instability in Disks with Realistic Cooling

We consider the nonlinear outcome of gravitational instability in optically thick disks with a realistic cooling function. We use a numerical model that is local, razor thin, and unmagnetized. External illumination is ignored. Cooling is calculated from a one-zone model using analytic fits to low-temperature Rosseland mean opacities. The model has two parameters: the initial surface density Σ0 and the rotation frequency Ω. We survey the parameter space and find the following. (1) The disk fragments when ⟨⟨τc⟩⟩Ω ~ 1, where ⟨⟨τc⟩⟩ is an effective cooling time defined as the average internal energy of the model divided by the average cooling rate. This is consistent with earlier results that used a simplified cooling function. (2) The initial cooling time τc0 for a uniform disk with Q = 1 can differ by orders of magnitude from ⟨⟨τc⟩⟩ in the nonlinear outcome. The difference is caused by sharp variations in the opacity with temperature. The condition τc0Ω ~ 1 therefore does not necessarily indicate where fragmentation will occur. (3) The largest difference between ⟨⟨τc⟩⟩ and τc0 is near the opacity gap, where dust is absent and hydrogen is largely molecular. (4) In the limit of strong illumination the disk is isothermal; we find that an isothermal version of our model fragments for Q ≲ 1.4. Finally, we discuss some physical processes not included in our model and find that most are likely to make disks more susceptible to fragmentation. We conclude that disks with ⟨⟨τc⟩⟩Ω ≲ 1 do not exist.
MMS Observations of Kinetic-size Magnetic Holes in the Terrestrial Magnetotail Plasma Sheet

Kinetic-size magnetic holes (KSMHs) in the terrestrial magnetotail plasma sheet are statistically investigated using the observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. The scales of KSMHs are found to be smaller than one ion gyroradius or tens of electron gyroradii. The occurrence distributions of KSMHs have dawn–dusk asymmetry (duskside preference) in the magnetotail, which may be caused by the Hall effect. Most events of KSMHs (71.7%) are accompanied by a substorm, implying that substorms may provide favorable conditions for the excitation of KSMHs. However, there is a weak correlation between KSMHs and magnetic reconnection. The statistical results reveal that for most of the events, the electron total temperature and perpendicular temperature increase while the electron parallel temperature decreases inside the KSMHs. The electron temperature anisotropy (Te⊥/ ) is observed in 72% of KSMHs. Whistler-mode waves are frequently observed inside the KSMHs, and most (92%) KSMHs associated with whistler waves have enhancements of electron perpendicular distributions and satisfy the unstable condition of whistler instability. This suggests that the observed electron-scale whistler waves, locally generated by the electron temperature anisotropy, could couple with the electron-scale KSMHs. The observed features of KSMHs and their coupling to electron-scale whistlers are similar to the ones in the turbulent magnetosheath, implying that they are ubiquitous in the space plasmas. The generation of KSMHs in the plasma sheet could be explained by an electron vortex magnetic hole, magnetosonic solitons, and/or ballooning/interchange instabilities.