Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Examination of Psychosocial Correlates of Eating Disorders Among Female Collegiate Athletes

With female collegiate athletes, we examined the relationship of eating pathology to body image concerns, weight pressures, sociocultural internalization, and mood state. Multivariate analyses revealed that the symptomatic and eating disorder groups were similar on seven of eight weight pressures, three of four mood states, on internalization, and on five of six body image measures; in all instances, these two groups reported more pathological scores than the asymptomatic athletes. Except for pressures from coaches, the psychosocial variables differentiated the groups, correctly classifying 79% of the cases. These findings suggest that athletes symptomatic of eating disorders report similarly high levels of disturbance across a wide range of psychosocial risk factors, and both groups warrant prevention and treatment efforts.
Preventive therapy of tuberculosis with rifapentine in immunocompetent and nude mice.

The effectiveness of intermittent administration of rifapentine (RPT), with or without isoniazid (INH), for preventive therapy of tuberculosis was evaluated in immunocompetent (normal) and nude mice. After infection with a small inoculum of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, normal mice developed a chronic and nonfatal infection, and the bacterial population became relatively stable after an initial period of limited multiplication. On the other hand, nude mice developed an acute and fatal infection, and all untreated mice died within 5 wk, with very high colony-forming-unit (CFU) counts in their organs. Various degrees of bactericidal activity were shown in normal mice after daily treatment with rifampin (RMP) plus pyrazinamide (PZA) for 13 wk, INH daily for 26 wk, or RPT once weekly for 13 or 26 wk or once fortnightly for 26 wk. The activity of RPT was significantly enhanced when INH was added at the same dosing frequency. In nude mice the response of M. tuberculosis infection to certain regimens was less favorable than that in normal mice, suggesting that preventive therapy may be less effective in severely immunodeficient hosts even during treatment. After chemotherapy was stopped, virtually all nude mice relapsed within 12 wk regardless of the regimen administered, whereas no or very few relapses were observed in normal mice that had been treated with RMP+PZA daily for 13 wk, or RPT alone or RPT+INH once weekly for 26 wk. The latter three regimens and RPT+INH once weekly for 13 wk may be applied for fixed-duration preventive therapy in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative subjects. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hospital utilization patterns and costs for adult sickle cell patients in Illinois.

OBJECTIVES To determine population size, demographic characteristics, hospital utilization patterns, the specialties of physicians providing care, and costs for hospitalized adult sickle cell patients in Illinois. METHODS A statewide, administrative dataset for the two-year period from january 1992 through December 1993 was analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS There were 8403 admissions among 1189 individual sickle cell patients for the two-year period. Eighty-five percent of patients resided in the Chicago metropolitan area. The median age of the 1189 patients was 29; two-thirds had Medicaid or Medicare coverage. Emergency departments were the primary source of admissions (85.7%). The most common admitting diagnosis was painful crisis (97.4%), and average length of stay was four days. The median number of admissions per patient was three; most patients (85%) used only one or two hospitals. A small group used more than four hospitals and accounted for 23% of statewide admissions. Primary care physicians cared for most patients, and total hospitalization charges were more than $59 million. CONCLUSIONS In Illinois the adult sickle cell population is concentrated in major urban centers, primarily the Chicago metropolitan area. These patients accounted for approximately 8400 admissions and more than $59 million in hospital charges during the two-year study period. A small group of patients used multiple hospitals and accounted for more than 23% of total hospitalization charges. This study shows the necessity of and provides a useful framework for developing targeted programs for adult sickle cell patients as well as for training physicians to efficiently provide comprehensive health care services for this population.
Is early integration of palliative care feasible and acceptable for advanced respiratory and gastrointestinal cancer patients? A phase 2 mixed-methods study

Background: There is evidence that early integration of palliative care improves quality of life, lowers spending and helps clarify preferences and goals for advanced cancer patients. Little is known about the feasibility and acceptability of early integration. Aim: Assessing feasibility of early integration of palliative care, and exploring concerns perceived and problems encountered by patients, relatives and oncologists. Design: A phase 2 mixed-methods study (ClinicalTrials.Gov:NCT02078700). Methods: Oncologists of two outpatient clinics offered a specialised palliative care intervention integrated with standard oncological care to all consecutive newly diagnosed metastatic respiratory/gastrointestinal cancer patients. We interviewed samples of patients, relatives and oncologists to explore strengths and weaknesses of the intervention. Results: The intervention was proposed to 44/54 eligible patients (81.5%), 40 (90.1%) accepted, 38 (95.0%) attended the first palliative care visit. The intervention was completed for 32 patients (80.0%). It did not start for three (7.5%) and was interrupted for three patients who refused (7.5%). The Palliative Care Unit performed 274 visits in 38 patients (median per patient 4.5), and 24 family meetings with relatives of 16 patients. All patients and most relatives referred to the usefulness of the intervention, specifically for symptoms management, information and support to strategies for coping. Oncologists highlighted their difficulties in informing patients on palliative intervention, sharing information and coordinating patient’s care with the palliative care team. Conclusion: Early integration of palliative care in oncological setting seems feasible and well accepted by patients, relatives and, to a lesser extent, oncologists. Some difficulties emerged concerning patient information and inter-professional communication.
Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 Expands Th17 and IL-4+ CD4−CD8− Double-Negative T Cells and Contracts Regulatory T Cells in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is activated in CD4−CD8− double-negative (DN) T cells and its blockade is therapeutic in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Murine studies showed the involvement of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and 2 (mTORC2) in the differentiation of Th1/Th17 cells and Th2 cells, respectively. In this study, we investigated the roles of mTORC1 and mTORC2 in T cell lineage development in SLE and matched healthy control (HC) subjects. mTORC1 activity was increased, whereas mTORC2 was reduced, as assessed by phosphorylation of their substrates phosphorylated S6 kinase 1 or phosphorylated S6 ribosomal protein and phosphorylated Akt, respectively. Rapamycin inhibited mTORC1 and enhanced mTORC2. IL-4 expression was increased in freshly isolated CD8+ lupus T cells (SLE: 8.09 ± 1.93%, HC: 3.61 ± 0.49%; p = 0.01). DN T cells had greater IL-4 expression than CD4+ or CD8+ T cells of SLE patients after 3-d in vitro stimulation, which was suppressed by rapamycin (control: 9.26 ± 1.48%, rapamycin: 5.03 ± 0.66%; p < 0.001). GATA-3 expression was increased in CD8+ lupus T cells (p < 0.01) and was insensitive to rapamycin treatment. IFN-γ expression was reduced in all lupus T cell subsets (p = 1.0 × 10−5) and also resisted rapamycin. IL-17 expression was increased in CD4+ lupus T cells (SLE: 3.62 ± 0.66%, HC: 2.29 ± 0.27%; p = 0.019), which was suppressed by rapamycin (control: 3.91 ± 0.79%, rapamycin: 2.22 ± 0.60%; p < 0.001). Frequency of regulatory T cells (Tregs) was reduced in SLE (SLE: 1.83 ± 0.25%, HC: 2.97 ± 0.27%; p = 0.0012). Rapamycin inhibited mTORC1 in Tregs and promoted their expansion. Neutralization of IL-17, but not IL-4, also expanded Tregs in SLE and HC subjects. These results indicate that mTORC1 expands IL-4+ DN T and Th17 cells, and contracts Tregs in SLE.
Increasing Pap Smear Utilization among Samoan Women: Results from a Community Based Participatory Randomized Trial

Background. We tested the effectiveness of a theory-guided, culturally tailored cervical cancer education program designed to increase Pap smear use among Samoan women residing in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa. Methods. We used a two-group, pretest-posttest design. The sample comprised 398 Samoan women age 20 and older recruited from Samoan churches. Women in the intervention group received a culturally tailored cervical cancer education program in three weekly sessions. The primary outcome was self-reported receipt of a Pap smear. Results. Overall, there was a significant intervention effect, with intervention compared with control group women twice (adjusted odds ratio = 2.0, 95% confidence interval = 1.3–3.2, p<.01) as likely to self-report Pap smear use at the posttest. Conclusions. The findings support the efficacy of the multifaceted, theory-guided, culturally tailored community-based participatory cervical cancer education program for Samoan women in effecting positive changes in Pap smear use and cervical cancer related knowledge and attitudes.
The Axis of Astigmatism in Right and Left Eye Pairs

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between the astigmatic axes of right and left eye pairs, with particular attention given to determining the degree to which either direct or mirror symmetry (enantiomorphism) of the astigmatic axes exists. A sample of 192 “nonvisually” selected adults participated, with refractive error and corneal curvature data being measured using autokerato-refractive equipment. Total, corneal, and residual astigmatism were investigated, with residual astigmatism being taken as the vector difference between total and corneal astigmatism. There was no evidence for a predominance of either mirror or direct symmetry of the astigmatic axes within this sample. The patterns of astigmatic axis distribution of right and left eyes were remarkably similar but, within this context, there was no definite evidence for a definable association between the axis of the left and right pairs of individuals. These findings remained unchanged when the effect of the modulus of astigmatism was incorporated, either through weighting the frequency distributions or through analyzing a subgroup of the overall population (those individuals with greater than 0.50 D of astigmatism). We believe these findings contradict commonly held clinical impressions regarding the symmetry of astigmatic axes, and should be considered when performing statistical analysis of astigmatic data.
New Insights on the Role of SERCA During Vessel Remodeling in Metabolic Syndrome

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the adult population in developing countries, as it is currently conceived by the current definitions, has been estimated to range from 22 to 39% and varies depending on the definition used and on ethnicity (1–3). Metabolic syndrome is associated with future coronary heart disease events (4), and this forms the underlying basis for the study by Dineen et al. in this issue of Diabetes (5). Patients with metabolic syndrome have been shown to have an increased mean intimal-medial thickness (0.98 vs. 0.92 mm, P < 0.01) of the common carotid and an increase in the number of components of metabolic syndrome, which is associated with an increasing trend in the mean intimal-medial thickness, suggesting that metabolic syndrome can effect vessel wall modeling (6). Defining the biology of these early mural changes should allow for a better delineation of how metabolic syndrome influences the response to injury after coronary intervention. Individuals with metabolic syndrome and a Framingham risk score greater than 20% have an increased risk of major coronary events over the next 10 years compared with people without metabolic syndrome and the same risk score (7). Metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction with a corresponding population-attributable risk of 14.5%. The clustering of greater than three risk factors with subthreshold values is also associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction (odds ratio 1.50 [95% CI 1.24–1.81]) compared with component factors with values in a normal range (8). The presence of metabolic syndrome increases the risk of mortality by 1.6-fold and cardiovascular death by 2.4-fold in patients who present with an acute coronary syndrome (9). The presence of metabolic syndrome correlates with a heightened inflammatory …
Ligand-Specific Selection of MHC Class II-Restricted Thymocytes in Fetal Thymic Organ Culture1

Positive and negative selection of thymocytes is determined by the specificity of the TCR and signaling through its associated molecules. We have studied selection of thymocytes bearing a MHC class II-restricted TCR using fetal thymic organ culture. This system allows the addition of peptides to the already diverse panoply of endogenous peptide ligands and is useful for analyzing ligand-specific negative selection of CD4 single positive (CD4SP) thymocytes. The data reveal that the ability of a given ligand to mediate negative selection is related to its dissociation rate from the TCR. We find that negative selection is very sensitive, and only the weakest ligand that we can identify fails to induce negative selection. None of the numerous peptides tested were able to induce an increase in CD4SP thymocytes. In addition, the ligands that induce negative selection of CD4SP thymocytes also cause an increase in numbers of CD8SP thymocytes bearing high levels of the class II-restricted TCR. Although these cells have a cell surface phenotype consistent with positive selection, they most likely represent cells in the process of negative selection. Further analysis reveals that these cells are not induced by these ligands in intact adult animals and that their induction is probably only revealed in the organ culture system.
Augmentation of calf blood flow by epinephrine infusion during lumbar epidural anesthesia.

Lower rates of deep vein thrombosis after hip surgery performed under epidural anesthesia were noted in patients who received intravenous epinephrine infusion. To determine whether this effect could be mediated by enhanced lower extremity blood flow, 12 patients were studied immediately preoperatively. Calf blood flow increased from 3.7 +/- 1.6 to 5.0 +/- 2.2 mL.100 mL-1.min-1 with an intravenous epinephrine infusion (1.9 +/- 0.5 microgram/min). After epidural anesthesia calf blood flow increased to 6.3 +/- 3.3 mL.100 mL-1.min-1 with epinephrine infusion (2.7 +/- 1.0 micrograms/min) but was reduced to 2.6 +/- 1.5 mL.100 mL-1.min-1 when norepinephrine (0.8 +/- 0.7 microgram/min) was infused. Calf vascular resistance decreased from 27.7 +/- 13.5 to 7.9 +/- 4.6 mmHg.mL-1.100 mL-1.min-1 after epidural anesthesia with epinephrine (2.7 +/- 1.0 micrograms/min) but was unchanged when norepinephrine (0.8 +/- 0.7 microgram/min) was infused. The augmentation of lower extremity blood flow when epinephrine is used in conjunction with epidural anesthesia may in part explain the low frequency of deep vein thrombosis with conduction anesthesia.
Board Characteristics, Political Connections, and Corporate Cash Holdings: The Role of Firm Size and Political Regime

This paper examines the relationship of board characteristics with cash holding, and the interplay of political connections on this relationship. For this purpose, panel data of 150 non-financial firms ranging from 2001 to 2014 are used. We document that board characteristics are important predictors of a firm’s cash holding in Pakistan. Theoretically, the findings mainly support agency theory. Consistent with prior studies, our empirical results show some statistical variations in large and small size sampled firms, and dictator and democratic regimes. Moreover, we investigate the interplay of political connections on the relationship of board characteristics and cash holding. Our findings support the complementary effect hypothesis
Effectiveness of Vocational High Schools in Students' Access to and Persistence in Postsecondary Vocational Education

Vocational education is increasingly seen as a viable path to higher education and not simply a direct route to the labor market. This paper studies the relationship between the secondary school track attended by Chilean students (vocational or academic) and their subsequent outcomes in access to and persistence in postsecondary vocational programs. Although it is expected that vocational students will display lower access to higher education programs, due to their less intense curriculum and the generally non- academic environment of their schools, their performance in post-secondary vocational programs is unclear. Field-specific knowledge and vocational maturity could improve the performance of students from secondary vocational education backgrounds. Our analysis uses propensity score matching to reduce selection bias and determine causal relationships. It also utilizes sensitivity analysis to check for the robustness of results. The findings reveal that, indeed, vocational students have lower rates of access and persistence than academic ones. Students who change fields between secondary and postsecondary education have the lowest persistence levels. We also found that vocational students have lower probabilities of access to higher education funding, and higher probabilities of enrolling in evening classes. Thus, when controlling for these two characteristics, we found that students who continue in the same vocational field between secondary and postsecondary levels had a better performance than students with an academic background. These findings may suggest that vocational students require greater support in order to increase their prob- abilities of success in higher education.
Comment on “Hypothesis—Ultraviolet‐B Irradiance and Vitamin D Reduce the Risk of Viral Infections and thus their Sequelae, Including Autoimmune Diseases and some Cancers” by W.B. Grant, Photochem. Photobiol. (2007)

Grant proposes that vitamin D reduces the risk of viral infections due to its antiviral properties, particularly its ability to promote the production of cathelicidin from infected cells and the production of other antimicrobial peptides. Grant, W. B. , C. F. Garland and M. F. Holick (2005) Comparisons of estimated economic burdens due to insufficient solar ultraviolet irradiance and vitamin D and excess solar UV irradiance for the United States.
Biosynthesis of Fatty Acids by Lactating Human Breast Epithelial Cells: An Evaluation of the Contribution to the Overall Composition of Human Milk Fat

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to characterize the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway of the lactating human breast. Mixed cell populations, obtained by centrifugation of human milk, were enriched in breast epithelial cells by a selective adsorption procedure. Confirmation of the identity of the breast epithelial cells was obtained immunohistochemically. These viable breast epithelial cells incorporated radioactively labeled acetate predominantly into fatty acids with less than 16C atoms. The presence of the two key enzymes characteristic of the medium-chain fatty acid biosynthetic pathway of nonruminants, fatty acid synthetase, and thioesterase II, was demonstrated both qualitatively, by immunohistochemistry, and quantitatively, by enzyme assay. The results indicate that the lipogenic system of the human breast is qualitatively very similar to that of rats, mice, and rabbits, which also secrete milk fats containing medium-chain fatty acids. Quantitatively, however, the mammary fatty acid biosynthetic pathway appears to be less active in humans than in these other species.
Robust beamforming for MISO wiretap channel by optimizing the worst-case secrecy capacity

A Gaussian multiple-input single-output (MISO) secrecy channel is considered, where a transmitter is equipped with multiple antennas, and an intended receiver and an eavesdropper each equipped with a single antenna. This paper studies the robust beamforming design in the presence of uncertainty of channel state information (CSI) on the eavesdropper channel. Under the assumption that all possible states of the eavesdropper channel are in a given set, the problem of optimizing the transmit covariance for the worst-case secrecy capacity which is the maximum transmission rate at which the eavesdropper is unable to decode under any channel realization in the set, is cast as a max-min optimization problem. We propose to transfer the max-min problem into a convex optimization problem that can be solved efficiently. The optimal secrecy rate and transmit covariance are expressed in the form of the generalized eigenvalue and eigenvector, the same form as the conventional case of the perfect eavesdropper's CSI, which indicates our results is the generalization of the conventional case.
Molecular genotyping of HIV‐1 in 61 patients with AIDS from Lomé, Togo

To study the distribution of HIV types and genotypes, in Lomé, Togo, a random population of patients who met the clinical criteria of the Bangui definition of AIDS and were positive with two independent screening assays for antibodies to HIV‐1 group M, HIV‐2, and HIV‐1 group O was selected. HIV RNA from serum samples was reverse‐transcribed and amplified with degenerate primers annealing to conserved regions of the HIV‐1, HIV‐2, and HIV‐O gag gene. Amplicons were directly sequenced using an automated sequencer. A 262–271‐bp (strain‐dependent) fragment of the gag gene from each patient was phylogenetically analyzed and compared to the corresponding gag sequences of published HIV‐1 sequences of known African genotypes. Genotype A was found in 48 of 60 patient amplicons (80%), subdivided into two clusters. Ten patients (16.7%) were HIV‐1 genotype G; one was genotype D and one genotype H. HIV‐1 genotype B was not found. Amplicons from two patients contained sequence ambiguities, requiring cloning and sequencing of the gag insert. One patient (T52) was apparently infected with HIV‐1 genotypes A and G; whereas HIV‐1 from patient T139 was of genotype A, with 2/10 clones having a three‐codon insertion at nucleotide position 1142 of the gag gene. HIV‐1 genotype A is dominant in Togo; genotype G is frequent and genotype B has not been found. J. Med. Virol. 57:25–30, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
GDP growth and convergence determinants in the European Union: a crisp-set analysis

Abstract Economic growth and convergence remains a topical issue. This study uses a crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis of data from European Union countries in order to establish which conditions could be considered necessary and sufficient to make these countries converge. Based on six different conditions (GDP, secondary education, life expectancy, fertility rate, government consumption and inflation rate), this study finds that the main conditions affecting convergence are government consumption ratio (lower levels will increase convergence), education levels and life expectancy (both with a positive influence on convergence). The first two conditions show quite interesting results: in fact, reduction of government expenditure and budget constraints are an open debate; and the European Union’s aim to become a more competitive economy can only be attained with higher levels of education.