Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors related to underuse of surveillance mammography among breast cancer survivors.

PURPOSE Many older breast cancer survivors do not undergo annual mammography despite guideline recommendations. We identified factors associated with underuse of surveillance mammography and examined whether variation was explained by differences in follow-up care. PATIENTS AND METHODS We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare data to identify a population-based sample of 44,511 women fee-for-service Medicare enrollees aged > or = 65 years who were diagnosed with stage I or II breast cancer in 1992 to 1999 who underwent primary surgical therapy. We assessed factors associated with mammography during months 7 to 18, 19 to 30, and 31 to 42 after breast cancer diagnosis using repeated-measures logistic regression; and we examined whether follow-up care with providers of various specialties explained variation in mammography use. RESULTS Only three quarters of women (77.6%) underwent mammography during months 7 to 18 after diagnosis, and only 56.7% had mammography yearly over 3 years. In multivariable analyses, women who were older, black, unmarried, and living in certain regions were less likely than other women to undergo surveillance mammography (all P < .05). Patients with more visits and patients who continued to see a medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, or surgeon were most likely to have mammograms (P < .001); however, adjusting for visits with providers did not explain the lower mammography rates based on age, race, marital status, and geographic region. CONCLUSION Many elderly breast cancer survivors do not undergo annual surveillance mammography, particularly women who are older, black, and unmarried, and this underuse was not explained by access to follow-up care. New strategies are needed to increase use of surveillance mammography and decrease variations based on nonclinical factors that are likely unrelated to appropriateness of medical care.
Iron Efflux by PmtA Is Critical for Oxidative Stress Resistance and Contributes Significantly to Group A Streptococcus Virulence

ABSTRACT Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a human-only pathogen that causes a spectrum of disease conditions. Given its survival in inflamed lesions, the ability to sense and overcome oxidative stress is critical for GAS pathogenesis. PerR senses oxidative stress and coordinates the regulation of genes involved in GAS antioxidant defenses. In this study, we investigated the role of PerR-controlled metal transporter A (PmtA) in GAS pathogenesis. Previously, PmtA was implicated in GAS antioxidant defenses and suggested to protect against zinc toxicity. Here, we report that PmtA is a P1B4-type ATPase that functions as an Fe(II) exporter and aids GAS defenses against iron intoxication and oxidative stress. The expression of pmtA is specifically induced by excess iron, and this induction requires PerR. Furthermore, a pmtA mutant exhibited increased sensitivity to iron toxicity and oxidative stress due to an elevated intracellular accumulation of iron. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that GAS undergoes significant alterations in gene expression to adapt to iron toxicity. Finally, using two mouse models of invasive infection, we demonstrated that iron efflux by PmtA is critical for bacterial survival during infection and GAS virulence. Together, these data demonstrate that PmtA is a key component of GAS antioxidant defenses and contributes significantly to GAS virulence.
The Mitochondrial Potassium Cycle

The mitochondrial K + cycle consists of influx and efflux pathways for K + and anions. Net movement of K + salts across the inner membrane causes changes of matrix volume, so regulation of the cycle is vital for maintaining the structural integrity of the organelle. The mitochondrial K + cycle also appears to play important roles in cellular pathophysiology in vivo. Opening the mitochondrial ATP‐sensitive K + channel (mitoK ATP ) prior to ischemia protects the heart from ischemia‐reperfusion injury. MitoK ATP is an important player in the cell signaling pathways for ischemic protection and also for gene transcription, roles that appear to depend on the ability of mitoK ATP opening to trigger increased mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species. MitoK ATP opening during both ischemia and reperfusion and during the high work state is found to preserve the structure of the intermembrane space and thereby maintains the normally low outer membrane permeability to adenine nucleotides. This review discusses the properties of the mitochondrial K + cycle that help to understand the basis of these effects.
The Influence of Anticoagulation on Acid‐Base Status and Blood‐Gas Analysis

The results of acid‐base status and blood‐gas analysis can be influenced massively by incorrect sampling. We found that the addition of heparin has no great effect on blood‐gas measurement. Citric acid and fluoride can also be admixed to blood samples in the usual concentrations without severe side‐effects. The major error in the determination of blood gases and acid‐base status is a consequence of even minimal dilution: filling the deadspace of a syringe with any diluent leads to unacceptable results. Hence, we conclude that blood specimens for determination of blood gases and acid‐base status should be taken in specially prepared syringes containing the anticoagulant in the form of a dry substance. We think that citric acid is also acceptable for anticoagulation. Fluoride should be added in order to minimize alterations of pH due to anaerobic glycolysis.
Suspected pulmonary embolism.

La nature des symptomes relatifs a l'embolisme pulmonaire sont decrits et permettent d'etablir le diagnostic grâce a l'angiographie pulmonaire par tomoscintigraphie et imagerie medicale. Le traitement anticoagulant est stoppe ou non en fonction de l'etiologie de la pathologie
Novel B3GALTL mutations in classic Peters plus syndrome and lack of mutations in a large cohort of patients with similar phenotypes

Peters plus syndrome (PPS) is a rare autosomal‐recessive disorder characterized by Peters anomaly of the eye, short stature, brachydactyly, dysmorphic facial features, developmental delay, and variable other systemic abnormalities. In this report, we describe screening of 64 patients affected with PPS, isolated Peters anomaly and PPS‐like phenotypes. Mutations in the coding region of B3GALTL were identified in nine patients; six had a documented phenotype of classic PPS and the remaining three had a clinical diagnosis of PPS with incomplete clinical documentation. A total of nine different pathogenic alleles were identified. Five alleles are novel including one frameshift, c.168dupA, p.(Gly57Argfs*11), one nonsense, c.1234C>T, p.(Arg412*), two missense, c.1045G>A, p.(Asp349Asn) and c.1181G>A, p.(Gly394Glu), and one splicing, c.347+5G>T, mutations. Consistent with previous reports, the c.660+1G>A mutation was the most common mutation identified, seen in eight of the nine patients and accounting for 55% of pathogenic alleles in this study and 69% of all reported pathogenic alleles; while two patients were homozygous for this mutation, the majority had a second rare pathogenic allele. We also report the absence of B3GALTL mutations in 55 cases of PPS‐like phenotypes or isolated Peters anomaly, further establishing the strong association of B3GALTL mutations with classic PPS only.
Rapid report: postsynaptic bursting is essential for 'Hebbian' induction of associative long-term potentiation at excitatory synapses in rat hippocampus.

1. The biologically relevant rules of synaptic potentiation were investigated in hippocampal slices from adult rat by mimicking neuronal activity seen during learning behaviours. Synaptic efficacy was monitored in two separate afferent pathways among the Schaffer collaterals during intracellular recording of CA1 pyramidal neurones. The effects of pairing presynaptic single spikes or bursts with postsynaptic single spikes or bursts, repeated at 5 Hz ('theta' frequency), were compared. 2. The pairing of ten single evoked excitatory synaptic events with ten postsynaptic single action potentials at 5 Hz, repeated twelve times, failed to induce synaptic enhancement (EPSP amplitude 95% of baseline amplitude 20 min after pairing; n = 5). In contrast, pairing the same number of action potentials, but clustered in bursts, induced robust synaptic potentiation (EPSP amplitude 163%; P < 0.01, Student's t test; n = 5). This potentiation was input specific, long lasting ( > 1 h; n = 3) and its induction was blocked by an antagonist at NMDA receptors (20-50 microM D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid; EPSP amplitude 109%; n = 6). 3. Presynaptic bursting paired with postsynaptic single action potentials did not induce input specific synaptic change (113 % in the test input vs. 111 % in the control; n = 8). In contrast, postsynaptic bursting when paired with presynaptic single action potentials was sufficient to induce synaptic potentiation when the presynaptic activity preceded the postsynaptic activity by 10 ms (150 vs. 84 % in the control input; P < 0.01; n = 10). 4. These results indicate that, under our conditions, postsynaptic bursting activity is necessary for associative synaptic potentiation at CA1 excitatory synapses in adult hippocampus. The existence of a distinct postsynaptic signal for induction of synaptic change calls for refinement of the common interpretation of Hebb's rule, and is likely to have important implications for our understanding of cortical network operation.
Heterogeneous impacts of neighbouring farm size on the decision to exit: evidence from Brittany

Accounting for spatial interactions between farms is highly relevant for the analysis of agricultural policy impacts. Existing studies, however, only account for homogeneous (average) spatial interactions. We develop a mixture modelling framework to account for unobserved heterogeneity, allowing spatial interaction to vary across endogenously defined farm types. We apply this approach to study farmer decisions to exit the farming business using a large panel dataset covering all registered farms in Brittany, France, for the period 2004–2014. While exiting is on average positively correlated with neighbouring farm size, we find substantial variation between farm types, and a negative correlation for a significant proportion of farms. The approach we develop not only enables us to identify different correlations between neighbouring farm size and exits from farming but also yields different results than pooled estimations.
Predicting curriculum and test performance at age 7 years from pupil background, baseline skills and phonological awareness at age 5.

BACKGROUND Phonological awareness tests are known to be amongst the best predictors of literacy; however their predictive validity alongside current school screening practice (baseline assessment, pupil background data) and to National Curricular outcome measures is unknown. AIM We explored the validity of phonological awareness and orthographic measures, the Infant Index baseline assessment (Desforges & Lindsay, 1995), gender, free school dinners, and SEN status taken at age 5 in the prediction of English, Maths, and Science performance in Key Stage 1 of the National Curriculum in England. SAMPLE 435 children from nine schools in one Local Educational Authority (LEA) were screened at entry aged 4 or 5, and at 5:8, and age 7. METHOD We trained schools Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) to administer orthographic and phonological awareness measures. Teachers collected data on all baseline and Key Stage 1 performance measures. RESULTS A series of 13 logistic regression analyses revealed that phonological awareness and orthographic knowledge best predicted 12 of 13 measures of performance at Key Stage 1. Additional variance was nearly always explained by SEN status. In 11 analyses the Infant Index baseline score predicted performance at age 7 and was the best predictor of maths test performance. Gender was an occasional additional predictor. CONCLUSION School LSAs can be readily trained to administer phonological awareness measures to cohorts of 5-year-old children. Such measures used in conjunction with baseline measures significantly enhance prediction of Key Stage 1 performance. Deploying LSAs in this fashion significantly enhances a school's capacity to identify young children for whom additional support may be necessary.
The effect of control variables on the saving motives of the Pomak households

People have many different reasons for saving money for short or long time. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether age, gender, educational level, children's presence and monthly income are variables affecting the saving motives of Pomak households. It was found that age and gender were significant multivariate factors influencing the saving motives. Furthermore, educational level was found to have a moderator effect on the impact of gender on the safety and self-esteem motives. These results may be useful in designing public policies to encourage increases in household saving rates by emphasizing saving for more personal desires, besides a precautionary or retirement saving purpose.
Treatment of Patients With Tardive Dystonia With Olanzapine

Tardive dystonia represents a complication of long-term use of neuroleptics and its treatment is often unsatisfactory. Atypical neuroleptics appear to improve tardive dystonia, and cases of tardive dystonia successfully managed with clozapine have been reported. The aim of this open-label video-blinded study was to evaluate the antidystonic efficacy of olanzapine, a new atypical neuroleptic with a low risk of agranulocytosis, in a group of four patients (one man and three women) with tardive cervical dystonia. They developed severe dystonia after several years of neuroleptic treatment. Extensive laboratory evaluations, as well as neurophysiologic and neuroradiologic investigations, were negative. Olanzapine was started at a dose of 5 mg/d and increased up to 7.5 mg/d. All patients were evaluated at baseline and after 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks of treatment, using the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale, and videotaped. At the end of the trial, the videotapes were reviewed and scored by a blind observer. A self-rating visual analog scale completed the disability evaluation.A moderate to marked improvement in dystonia was observed in all patients, and significant differences were observed in Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale scores and videotape ratings after 8 and 12 weeks of treatment compared with the basal values (p < 0.05). The average percentage of improvement in Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale score and visual analog scale was 26.4% and 42.6%, respectively. No serious side effects were reported at the maximum dosage reached (7.5 mg/d). This study warrants a larger controlled study to conclusively demonstrate the efficacy of olanzapine in tardive dystonia.
Scientific evidence underlying the ACC/AHA clinical practice guidelines.

CONTEXT The joint cardiovascular practice guidelines of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have become important documents for guiding cardiology practice and establishing benchmarks for quality of care. OBJECTIVE To describe the evolution of recommendations in ACC/AHA cardiovascular guidelines and the distribution of recommendations across classes of recommendations and levels of evidence. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION Data from all ACC/AHA practice guidelines issued from 1984 to September 2008 were abstracted by personnel in the ACC Science and Quality Division. Fifty-three guidelines on 22 topics, including a total of 7196 recommendations, were abstracted. DATA EXTRACTION The number of recommendations and the distribution of classes of recommendation (I, II, and III) and levels of evidence (A, B, and C) were determined. The subset of guidelines that were current as of September 2008 was evaluated to describe changes in recommendations between the first and current versions as well as patterns in levels of evidence used in the current versions. RESULTS Among guidelines with at least 1 revision or update by September 2008, the number of recommendations increased from 1330 to 1973 (+48%) from the first to the current version, with the largest increase observed in use of class II recommendations. Considering the 16 current guidelines reporting levels of evidence, only 314 recommendations of 2711 total are classified as level of evidence A (median, 11%), whereas 1246 (median, 48%) are level of evidence C. Level of evidence significantly varies across categories of guidelines (disease, intervention, or diagnostic) and across individual guidelines. Recommendations with level of evidence A are mostly concentrated in class I, but only 245 of 1305 class I recommendations have level of evidence A (median, 19%). CONCLUSIONS Recommendations issued in current ACC/AHA clinical practice guidelines are largely developed from lower levels of evidence or expert opinion. The proportion of recommendations for which there is no conclusive evidence is also growing. These findings highlight the need to improve the process of writing guidelines and to expand the evidence base from which clinical practice guidelines are derived.
Identification of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-producing Bacillus spp. using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

AIMS The aim of the work was to develop efficient method to identify polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-producing species of Bacillus from numerous soil isolates of bacteria. Identification of the isolates and characterization of the PHA produced by strains positive on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was envisaged. METHODS AND RESULTS Different bacteria isolated from soil were screened by PCR using two sets of primers designed for Bacillus megaterium. Amongst 23 isolates examined, the DNA of 12 isolates reacted positively with the primers giving amplicons identical in size to that obtained from B. megaterium. The isolates which were identified as strains of B. sphaericus, B. circulans, B. brevis and B. licheniformis, produced 11- 41% of PHA in biomass, in sucrose-containing medium, over a growth period of 24-72 h. The nature of the PHA thus produced was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography and by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and found to contain polyhydroxy butyrate and polyhydroxyvalerate. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that most of our isolates from different species contained the B. megaterium type of PHA synthase. Bacillus licheniformis appeared to belong to another group as it did not react with both sets of primers. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY This study shows the universality of the B. megaterium type of PHA synthase in soil isolates of Bacillus. Some variations were also found.
Energy Resolution and Temperature Dependence of Ce:GAGG Coupled to ${\hbox {3}}\ \hbox{mm} \times {\hbox {3}}\ \hbox{mm}$ Silicon Photomultipliers

Scintillators are a critical component of sensor systems for the detection of ionizing radiation. Such systems have a diverse portfolio of applications from medical imaging, well logging in oil exploration, and detection systems for the prevention of the illicit movement of nuclear materials. The rare earth element cerium is an ideal dopant for a variety of host scintillating materials due to the fast 5d1 → 4f radiative transition of Ce3+. Cerium-doped gadolinium aluminium gallium garnet (Ce:GAGG) is a relatively new single crystal scintillator with several interesting properties. These include high light yield, an emission peak well-matched to silicon sensors, and low intrinsic energy resolution. Moreover, the material has high density and is nonhygroscopic. In this paper, we review the properties of cerium-doped GAGG and report energy-resolution (ER) measurements over the temperature range -10°C to +50°C for 3 × 3 × 30 mm3 Ce:GAGG crystals optically coupled to a silicon photomultipler (SiPM) sensor with a 3 mm × 3 mm active area. In addition, the linearity of the scintillator-SiPM response as a function of gamma energy is reported.
Women with coronary artery disease and depression: A neglected risk group

Coronary artery disease (CAD) has been held to be a “male” disease due to men's higher absolute risk compared to women, but the relative risk of women for CAD morbidity and mortality is actually higher. The purpose of this article is to review research evidence for gender differences in CAD and depression with special emphasis on women. Current knowledge points to important gender differences in age of onset, symptom presentation, management, outcome as well as traditional and psychosocial risk factors. Compared to men, CAD risk in women is more strongly increased by some traditional factors (diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity), and socioeconomic and psychosocial factors seem to have a higher impact on CAD in women as well. With respect to differences in CAD management, a gender-bias in favour of men has to be taken into account in spite of older age and higher comorbidity in women, possibly contributing to a poorer outcome. Depression was shown to be an independent risk factor and consequence of CAD; however, concerning gender differences, the results have been inconsistent. Current evidence suggests that depression causes a greater increase in CAD incidence in women, and that female CAD patients experience higher levels of depression than men. Gender aspects should be more intensively considered both in further research on gender differences in comorbid depression and in cardiac treatment and rehabilitation with the goal of making secondary prevention for women more effective.
Effects of Oil‐Palm Plantations on Diversity of Tropical Anurans

Agriculturally altered vegetation, especially oil‐palm plantations, is rapidly increasing in Southeast Asia. Low species diversity is associated with this commodity, but data on anuran diversity in oil‐palm plantations are lacking. We investigated how anuran biological diversity differs between forest and oil‐palm plantation, and whether observed differences in biological diversity of these areas is linked to specific environmental factors. We hypothesized that biological diversity is lower in plantations and that plantations support a larger proportion of disturbance‐tolerant species than forest. We compared species richness, abundance, and community composition between plantation and forest areas and between site types within plantation and forest (forest stream vs. plantation stream, forest riparian vs. plantation riparian, forest terrestrial vs. plantation terrestrial). Not all measures of biological diversity differed between oil‐palm plantations and secondary forest sites. Anuran community composition, however, differed greatly between forest and plantation, and communities of anurans in plantations contained species that prosper in disturbed areas. Although plantations supported large numbers of breeding anurans, we concluded the community consisted of common species that were of little conservation concern (commonly found species include Fejervarya limnocharis, Microhyla heymonsi, and Hylarana erythrea). We believe that with a number of management interventions, oil‐palm plantations can provide habitat for species that dwell in secondary forests.
Does Government Subsidy Affect Firm Survival? Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms

ABSTRACT This article applies a matching approach to deal with the selection bias and use the complementary log-log model to analyze the impacts of subsidy on Chinese manufacturing firms’ survival from 1998 to 2007. Our empirical results show that government subsidies significantly decrease the likelihood of firm exit. However, the effect decreases as the level of subsidies increases for private and foreign firms, but displays a nonlinear relationship across subsidy levels for SOEs. We also show the effects vary across the levels of institutional quality measured by the prevalence of rent seeking and government intervention. Further results suggest that the potential channels include increased investment in intangible and fixed assets as well as enhanced profitability.