Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is there any evidence of a "July effect" in patients undergoing major cancer surgery?

BACKGROUND The "July effect" refers to the phenomenon of adverse impacts on patient care arising from the changeover in medical staff that takes place during this month at academic medical centres in North America. There has been some evidence supporting the presence of the July effect, including data from surgical specialties. Uniformity of care, regardless of time of year, is required for patients undergoing major cancer surgery. We therefore sought to perform a population-level assessment for the presence of a July effect in this field. METHODS We used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample to abstract data on patients undergoing 1 of 8 major cancer surgeries at academic medical centres between Jan. 1, 1999, and Dec. 30, 2009. The primary outcomes examined were postoperative complications and in-hospital mortality. Univariate analyses and subsequently multivariate analyses, controlling for patient and hospital characteristics, were performed to identify whether the time of surgery was an independent predictor of outcome after major cancer surgery. RESULTS On univariate analysis, the overall postoperative complication rate, as well as genitourinary and hematologic complications specifically, was higher in July than the rest of the year. However, on multivariate analysis, only hematologic complications were significantly higher in July, with no difference in overall postoperative complication rate or in-hospital mortality for all 8 surgeries considered separately or together. CONCLUSION On the whole, the data confirm an absence of a July effect in patients undergoing major cancer surgery.
Levels of p53 in Epstein-Barr virus-infected cells determine cell fate: apoptosis, cell cycle arrest at the G1/S boundary without apoptosis, cell cycle arrest at the G2/M boundary without apoptosis, or unrestricted proliferation.

The marked increases in p53 and p21/WAF1 levels that occur during Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and the generation of immortal B lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) do not lead to growth arrest or apoptosis, although increasing wild-type (wt) p53 levels in EBV-infected cells by transfection or DNA damage induce these effects. We hypothesized that the concentration of p53 relative to that of LMP1 determines whether EBV-infected B cells undergo growth arrest and apoptosis. Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were evaluated in LCL expressing varying p53 levels achieved by treating the cells with increasing concentrations of cisplatin, and we supplemented this approach with experiments in EBV-infected Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) cells transfected with a temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant human p53 and studies in LCL infected with recombinant adenoviruses expressing wt and ts mutant p53. Small increases in p53 and p21/WAF1 led to cell cycle arrest at the G2/M boundary, but not to apoptosis; moderate increases resulted in growth arrest at the G1/S boundary, also without apoptosis; and large increases also induced apoptosis. These results confirm the hypothesis and reveal unanticipated complexities in cell cycle regulation by p53.
DOSE-RESPONSE CALIBRATION CURVE FOR MICRONUCLEUS ASSAY : PRELIMINARY STUDY

The biological dosimetry was developed to assess or estimate the absorbed dose by individuals that are involved or suspected of involvement in an ionizing radiation exposure event. The absorbed dose estimate is based on the analysis of sensitive and specific biomarkers to radiation and that better reflect the biological damage caused by it. The micronucleus (MN) assay is the most commonly used technique in radiation exposure events involving many people, because it can be applied as a triage method in the determination of exposed individuals significantly or not to ionizing radiation. The international atomic energy agency recommends that any laboratory intending to carry out biological dosimetry should establish its own dose–response data for MN assay due to differences between laboratories in response to MN dose, including the use of different protocols and scoring criteria. This study aimed to start construction of the dose-response calibration curve for MN in the Brazilian Northeast region. As such, blood samples were irradiated with three different absorbed doses (0.5 Gy, 0.75 Gy and 1.0 Gy) using a cobalt-60 source located at the Department of Nuclear Energy (DEN/UFPE). The lymphocyte culture, fixation procedure, staining and analysis of slides were according to the protocols set out in the manual of the IAEA. We observed that with the increasing of the absorbed dose, there is an increase in the presence of MN, but it is still necessary the study of other doses for the construction of a more statistically robust calibration curve.
Cytotoxicity of neoplastic drugs Gefitinib, Cisplatin, 5-FU, Gemcitabine, and Vinorelbine on human cervical cancer cells (HeLa)

A recent study reports that more than 99% of cases of cervical cancer worldwide contain HPV DNA. Hence, treatment options for cervical cancers are difficult due to multiplicity of the disease. Chemotherapy uses strong anticancer chemicals to kill cancer cells but to kill the viruses clinicians administer combination of drugs or higher doses of chemotherapy to control advanced cervical cancer and this practice causes severe side effects. Numerous cancer patients fail standard chemotherapy or develop resistance to chemotherapy during the course of treatment. Hence the aim of this investigation was to determine the chemo sensitivity of the five commonly used neoplastic drugs such as Geftinib, Cisplatin, 5-FU, Gemcitabine and Vinorelbine in vitro, and compare its toxicity on cervical cancer cells (HeLa) using lymphocytes (nucleated cells) as controls. Cytotoxicity in vitro was determined using the MTT assay; LC50 for all the drugs was calculated by regression equation. The morphological change of cells was recorded using Inverted Microscopy. DNA damage studies by comet assay determined the extent of single strand breaks in the DNA and these results were statistically determined using Standard deviation and compared with various treatments in cancer cells (HeLa) and control cells. All the results were statistically analyzed and recorded. From these studies we could determine that cisplatin was the most toxic drug and vinorelbine was least toxic. The order of toxicity (LC50) of the neoplastic drugs was Cisplatin (13μM) > Gefitinib (20μM) > Gemcitabine (35μM) > 5-FU (40μM) > Vinorelbine (48μM). Further, we could determine the toxicity of the combination of drugs using sub-lethal doses of each drug.
Novel Approaches to Development, Delivery and Evaluation of a Peer-Led Occupational Safety Training for Latino Day Laborers

Latino day laborers experience high rates of work-related injuries and are a hard-to-reach group for safety interventions. This study describes the creation and implementation of safety training based in empowerment theory and its evaluation to address three levels in empowerment's hierarchy of change. Pictographic pre- and post-tests were used to assess knowledge level changes. Individual and large-group interviews were conducted to address attitudes and behavior-level changes. Results indicate that day laborers learn and apply lessons from this type of safety training. Findings also offer insight into challenges that day laborers encounter when trying to work safely as well as ideas for future training interventions.
On the Convergence, Lock-In Probability, and Sample Complexity of Stochastic Approximation

It is shown that under standard hypotheses, if stochastic approximation iterates remain tight, they converge with probability one to what their o.d. e. limit suggests. A simple test for tightness (and therefore a.s. convergence) is provided. Further, estimates on lock-in probability, i.e., the probability of convergence to a specific attractor of the o.d. e. limit given that the iterates visit its domain of attraction, and sample complexity, i.e., the number of steps needed to be within a prescribed neighborhood of the desired limit set with a prescribed probability, are also provided. The latter improve significantly upon existing results in that they require a much weaker condition on the martingale difference noise.
Metabolic assessment of a migraine model using relaxation‐enhanced 1H spectroscopy at ultrahigh field

This study evaluates biochemical imbalances in a rat model that reflects dysfunctional pathways in migraine. The high sensitivity and spectral dispersion available to 1H MRS at 21.1 T expands metabolic profiling in this migraine model to include lactate (Lac), taurine (Tau), aspartate, and Gly—a mixture of glycine, glutamine, and glutamate.
The Correlation Coefficient: An Overview

Correlation and regression are different, but not mutually exclusive, techniques. Roughly, regression is used for prediction (which does not extrapolate beyond the data used in the analysis) whereas correlation is used to determine the degree of association. There situations in which the x variable is not fixed or readily chosen by the experimenter, but instead is a random covariate to the y variable. This paper shows the relationships between the coefficient of determination, the multiple correlation coefficient, the covariance, the correlation coefficient and the coefficient of alienation, for the case of two related variables x and y. It discusses the uses of the correlation coefficient r, either as a way to infer correlation, or to test linearity. A number of graphical examples are provided as well as examples of actual chemical applications. The paper recommends the use of z Fisher transformation instead of r values because r is not normally distributed but z is (at least in approximation). For either correlation or for regression models, the same expressions are valid, although they differ significantly in meaning.
Forecasting Short Run Performance of Initial Public Offerings in the Istanbul Stock Exchange

Previous research on IPOs has identified several factors or issue characteristics that play a role in the level of short term underpricing of initial public offerings. Some of those issue features are the firm size, market trend, size of the offer, investment banker reputation, method of intermediation, stock price range and investor type. The objective of this study is to develop a model based on these features to forecast the short term performance of IPOs in the Istanbul Stock Exchange. To this end we divided our sample period into a model building subperiod and a testing subperiod. After identifying 9 issue features that are related to IPO short term pricing, we estimated our models using multiple regression, multiple discriminant and logit methods. The estimated models are then tested against the IPO data in the subsequent period between 1997-2000. The overall predictive ability of the forecasting models can be described as mediocre. In terms of actual abnormal returns obtained from investment strategies based on model predictions, only the logit models beat the outcome of naive strategies, albeit only marginally.
Birthweight and coronary heart disease in a cohort born 1857-1900 in Melbourne, Australia.

BACKGROUND The widely observed association between birth size and risk of later coronary heart disease (CHD) has not been examined in an impoverished pre-20th century birth cohort. METHODS Birth weights and maternal characteristics, for births between 1857 and 1900 in a charity hospital, were recorded from preserved ledgers. Names were linked to death certificates to determine age and cause of death. Death with CHD was coded using specific criteria, and survival analysis methods were used to relate risk of CHD to birth weight, allowing for competing causes of death and adjusting for potentially confounding maternal factors. RESULTS Death certificates were traced for 8,584 (53%) of 16,272 registered live-births. Survival analyses were confined to 2,938 subjects (1,572 male, 1,366 female) who survived beyond age 40, since none of the 486 CHD cases was recorded earlier. CHD risk increased with time, but there was no evidence that it was related to birth weight, in men or women. CONCLUSIONS We did not replicate findings in more recent cohorts. This may represent a true lack of association in a historical cohort who we believe remained impoverished through their early life. However, we acknowledge the strong possibility of misclassification of cause of death by the person filling in the death certificate and/or our coding criteria, and temporal change in diagnostic criteria for CHD. We cannot exclude the possibility that low birth weight babies 'programmed' in utero for later CHD were more likely to die in infancy, in this cohort with a high infant mortality rate.
Autoantigenic HCgp39 Epitopes Are Presented by the HLA-DM-Dependent Presentation Pathway in Human B Cells1

It is hypothesized that autoimmune diseases manifest when tolerance to self-Ags fails. One possible mechanism to break tolerance is presentation of self-Ag in an altered form. Most Ags are presented by APCs via the traditional presentation pathway that includes “epitope editing” by intracellular HLA-DM, a molecule that selects for stable MHC-peptide complexes. We were interested in testing the hypothesis that autoreactive MHC-peptide complexes may reach the cell surface by an alternate pathway without being edited by HLA-DM. We selected a cartilage autoantigen human cartilage glycoprotein 39 to which T cell responses are observed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and some DR*04 healthy subjects. RA is genetically associated with certain DRB1 alleles, including DRB1*0401 but closely related allele DRB1*0402 is either neutral or mildly protective with respect to RA. We generated human B lymphoblastoid cell line cells expressing DR*0401 or DR*0402 in the presence or absence of intracellular HLA-DM and assessed their ability to present a candidate autoantigen, human cartilage glycoprotein 39. Our results show that the presence of intracellular HLA-DM is critical for presentation of this autoantigen to CD4+ T cell hybridomas generated from DR*04-transgenic mice. Presentation of an autoantigen by the traditional HLA-DM-dependent pathway has implications for Ag presentation events in RA.
High expression of HDAC 7 associated with MSH 2 predicted a good prognosis of patients with colon cancer

HDAC7 belongs to class IIa HDACs, and exhibits conflicting functions in different types of cancer. Until now, the function of HDAC7 in colon cancer has not been explored. Here, we investigated the potential role of HDAC7 in colon cancer. The results indicated that HDAC7 was mainly localized in the cytoplasm with higher expression in the cancer tissues than that in the para-carcinoma tissues (10.881±4.019 VS 1.713±1.046, P=0.000). But the two expressions were negatively correlated, although the P value was borderline significant (r=-0.222, P=0.050). Spearman’s analysis revealed that HDAC7 expression in cancer tissues was positively related to mismatch repair gene MSH2 (r=0.288, P=0.011), while HDAC7 expression in para-carcinoma tissues was negatively associated. Furthermore, HDAC7 expression had a significant inverse correlation with grade (r=-0.315, P=0.012); and MSH2 expression was negatively correlated with both N stage (r=-0.279, P=0.023) and cTNM stage (r=-0.241, P=0.033). Survival analysis revealed that colon cancer patients with high expression of HDAC7 (43.6% VS 20.0%, P=0.021) or MSH2 (53.3% VS 30.0%, P=0.015) had better prognoses in contrast with those with low expression. Taken together, these results have uncovered a previously unknown function of HDAC7 in colon cancer and might identify new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for this disease.
Wideband dual parallel slot patch antenna (DPSPA) for wireless communications

This paper presents the performance of a new kind of single patch microstrip antenna: dual parallel slot patch antenna (DPSPA). When two parallel slots are incorporated on the antenna patch, the bandwidth increases above 30%. Compared to the U-slot microstrip patch antenna, DPSPA is simpler in construction. By only adjusting the length, width and position of the slots, one can obtain satisfactory results. A wideband patch antenna with 30% bandwidth is designed. It covers 1.9 through 2.4 GHz, which are very useful frequencies in modern wireless communications. Radiation patterns are also measured and presented.
Simulated annealing approach to cost-based multi- quality of service job scheduling in cloud computing enviroment

Cloud computing environments facilitate applications by providing visualized resources that can be provisioned dynamically. The advent of cloud computing as a new model of service provisioning in distributed systems, encourages researchers to investigate its benefits and drawbacks in executing scientific applications such as workflows. One of the fundamental issues in this environment is related to task scheduling. Cloud task scheduling is an NP-hard optimization problem and many meta-heuristic algorithms have been proposed to solve it. A good task scheduler should adapt its scheduling strategy to the changing environment and the types of tasks with minimum scheduler execution time. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) for job scheduling has been proposed and produced good results. The main disadvantage of GA algorithm is time consuming problem. In this study, a novel Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithm is proposed for scheduling task in cloud environment. SA based approach produced comparative result in a minimal execution time.
Using the Internet for Health-Related Activities: Findings From a National Probability Sample

Background eHealth tools on the Internet have the potential to help people manage their health and health care. However, little is known about the distribution and use of different kinds of eHealth tools across the population or within population subgroups. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and predictors of participation in specific online health-related activities. Methods A secondary data analysis of the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 2005 was conducted to study three online behaviors among Internet users (n = 3244): searching for health information for oneself, participating in a support group for those with similar health or medical conditions, and purchasing medicine or vitamins. Results A total of 58% of Internet users reported searching for health information for themselves, 3.8% used online support groups, and 12.8% bought medicine or vitamins online in the past year. Multivariate analysis found that those seeking health information were more likely to be women (OR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.60, 3.09), have cable or satellite Internet connections (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.22, 2.45) or DSL connections (OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.36, 2.76), have Internet access from work (OR = 2.43, 95% CI = 1.27, 4.67) or from home and work (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.31, 2.30), and report more hours of weekday Internet use (OR = 4.12, 95% CI = 2.41, 7.07). Those with a high school education or less (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.31, 0.63) and those with some college (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49, 0.89) were less likely to search for health information. Online support groups were more likely to be used by those with “fair” health (OR = 3.28, 95% CI = 1.21, 8.92) and “poor” health (OR = 5.98, 95% CI = 1.49, 24.07) and those with lower incomes (OR = 2.64, 95% CI = 1.09, 6.41) and less likely to be used by those with Internet access both at home and work (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.35, 0.90). Those who were age 35-49 (OR = 2.16, 95% CI = 1.43, 3.26), age 50-64 (OR = 2.44, 95% CI = 1.53, 3.89), and age 65-74 (OR = 2.18, 95% CI = 1.30, 3.67) and those who were married (OR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.13, 3.30) were more likely to purchase medicine or vitamins online. Conclusions The Internet was most widely used as a health information resource, with less participation in the purchase of medicine and vitamins and in online support groups. Results suggest that modifying survey questions to better capture forms of online support and medications purchased could provide greater understanding of the nature of participation in these activities.
5-HT2A receptor gene promoter polymorphism –1438A/G and bipolar disorder

Genetic factors, such as the genes involved in the serotonin pathway, probably play an important role in the pathogenesis of bipolar disorder, and serotonin type 2A (5-HT2A) receptor gene promoter polymorphism –1438A/G has been reported. This study investigated the association between –1438A/G polymorphism of 5-HT2A receptor gene promoter and bipolar disorder in a Korean population. Using the polymerase chain reaction, –1438A/G polymorphism typed in 142 patients with bipolar disorder and in 148 normal control subjects. Differences in genotype distributions and allele frequencies of –1438A/G between patients with bipolar disorder and normal control subjects were tested for significance using the chi-squared test. There were significant differences in genotype distributions [χ2 = 9.697, degrees of freedom (df) = 2, P = 0.008] and allele frequencies (χ2 = 7.284, df = 1, P = 0.007) of –1438A/G between patients with bipolar disorder and normal control subjects. Although further studies are necessary, these results in a Korean population suggest that –1438A/G polymorphism of 5-HT2A receptor gene promoter may be causally related to the development of bipolar disorder.
Community‐based epidemiological study of psychosocial effects of acne in Japanese adolescents

In this community‐based cross‐sectional study, 1443 Japanese adolescents aged 13–19 years participated from two schools in Kagawa Prefecture. Students completed a self‐administered questionnaire to assess the prevalence of acne, knowledge about acne, self‐management of acne and emotional well‐being. A five‐item version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI) subscale of the Short Form 36 was used to assess psychological health and depression status. Among respondents, 859 (59.5%) said they had acne (51.6% of the boys and 64.8% of the girls). A majority (56.8%) of those who said they had acne also reported a family history of acne. Of the 555 female respondents with acne, 39.1% reported experiencing acne flares in temporal proximity to menstruation. Less than half (38.8%) of respondents with acne had sought or were seeking treatment. The three most common factors believed to trigger or exacerbate acne were stress, lack of sleep and sweat. The mean MHI score of 847 students with acne was significantly lower than 475 students without acne. The mean MHI score of female students with acne was significantly lower than male students with acne. Students with acne were also significantly more depressed than those without acne and female students were significantly more depressed than male students. Acne is a common problem for Japanese teenagers and causes personal and social difficulties. Our results suggest the necessity of educational programs in school or public to ensure that adolescents are aware of acne and to encourage young people to improve their mental health through better acne treatment.