Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variations in cost calculations in spine surgery cost-effectiveness research.

OBJECT Cost-effectiveness research in spine surgery has been a prominent focus over the last decade. However, there has yet to be a standardized method developed for calculation of costs in such studies. This lack of a standardized costing methodology may lead to conflicting conclusions on the cost-effectiveness of an intervention for a specific diagnosis. The primary objective of this study was to systematically review all cost-effectiveness studies published on spine surgery and compare and contrast various costing methodologies used. METHODS The authors performed a systematic review of the cost-effectiveness literature related to spine surgery. All cost-effectiveness analyses pertaining to spine surgery were identified using the cost-effectiveness analysis registry database of the Tufts Medical Center Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy, and the MEDLINE database. Each article was reviewed to determine the study subject, methodology, and results. Data were collected from each study, including costs, interventions, cost calculation method, perspective of cost calculation, and definitions of direct and indirect costs if available. RESULTS Thirty-seven cost-effectiveness studies on spine surgery were included in the present study. Twenty-seven (73%) of the studies involved the lumbar spine and the remaining 10 (27%) involved the cervical spine. Of the 37 studies, 13 (35%) used Medicare reimbursements, 12 (32%) used a case-costing database, 3 (8%) used cost-to-charge ratios (CCRs), 2 (5%) used a combination of Medicare reimbursements and CCRs, 3 (8%) used the United Kingdom National Health Service reimbursement system, 2 (5%) used a Dutch reimbursement system, 1 (3%) used the United Kingdom Department of Health data, and 1 (3%) used the Tricare Military Reimbursement system. Nineteen (51%) studies completed their cost analysis from the societal perspective, 11 (30%) from the hospital perspective, and 7 (19%) from the payer perspective. Of those studies with a societal perspective, 14 (38%) reported actual indirect costs. CONCLUSIONS Changes in cost have a direct impact on the value equation for concluding whether an intervention is cost-effective. It is essential to develop a standardized, accurate means of calculating costs. Comparability and transparency are essential, such that studies can be compared properly and policy makers can be appropriately informed when making decisions for our health care system based on the results of these studies.
A Molecular Approach to Mitophagy and Mitochondrial Dynamics

Mitochondrial quality control systems are essential for the maintenance of functional mitochondria. At the organelle level, they include mitochondrial biogenesis, fusion and fission, to compensate for mitochondrial function, and mitophagy, for degrading damaged mitochondria. Specifically, in mitophagy, the target mitochondria are recognized by the autophagosomes and delivered to the lysosome for degradation. In this review, we describe the mechanisms of mitophagy and the factors that play an important role in this process. In particular, we focus on the roles of mitophagy adapters and receptors in the recognition of damaged mitochondria by autophagosomes. In addition, we also address a functional association of mitophagy with mitochondrial dynamics through the interaction of mitophagy adaptor and receptor proteins with mitochondrial fusion and fission proteins.
Comparison between maximal early diastolic velocity in long‐axis direction obtained by M‐mode echocardiography and by tissue Doppler in the assessment of right ventricular diastolic function

Recently the maximal early diastolic velocity in long‐axis direction of the right ventricle (RV) obtained by tissue Doppler imaging (MDV TDI) has been introduced in the assessment of RV diastolic function (RVDF). There are reasons to think that also the maximal early diastolic velocity in long‐axis direction of the RV obtained using M‐mode echocardiography (MDV TAM) could be used to assess RVDF. Therefore, 29 patients were examined with echocardiography and MDV TAM and MDV TDI were measured and compared. A good correlation (r = 0·76, P<0·001) was found between MDV TAM and MDV TDI indicating that MDV TAM might be used in the assessment of RVDF. However, the velocities obtained by MDV TDI (126·7 ± 38·9 mm s−1) were significantly (P<0·001) higher than the velocities obtained by MDV TAM (78·3 ± 27·8 mm s−1) and the agreement between MDV TAM and MDV TDI was rather poor probably mainly due to differences in the measuring technique. This means that reference values cannot be used interchangeably between MDV TAM and MDV TDI. If MDV TAM is going to be used in the assessment of RVDF new reference values have to be produced if today's technique and recommendations to measure MDV TAM and MDV TDI are used. However, as most new echocardiographs are equipped with PW‐TDI technology it seems preferable to use this technique and compare obtained values with already established reference values.
More and Less than Equal

In both social science and medicine, research on reproduction generally focuses on women. In this article, we examine how men’s reproductive contributions are understood. We develop an analytic framework that brings together Cynthia Daniels’ conceptualization of reproductive masculinity (2006) with a staged view of reproduction, where the stages include the period before conception, conception, gestation, and birth. Drawing on data from two medical sites that are oriented to the period before pregnancy (preconception health care and sperm banks), we examine how gendered knowledge about reproduction produces different reproductive equations in different stages of the reproductive process. We conclude with a new research agenda that emerges from rethinking the role of men and masculinity in reproduction.
Heparin‐binding protein (HBP): an early marker of respiratory failure after trauma?

Trauma and its complications contribute to morbidity and mortality in the general population. Trauma victims are susceptible to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and sepsis. Polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs) are activated after trauma and there is substantial evidence of their involvement in the development of ARDS. Activated PMNs release heparin‐binding protein (HBP), a granule protein previously shown to be involved in acute inflammatory reactions. We hypothesised that there is an increase in plasma HBP content after trauma and that the increased levels are related to the severity of the trauma or later development of severe sepsis and organ failure (ARDS).
Occupational and Organizational Effects on Wages among College-educated Workers in 2003 and 2010

We investigate the 2003 and 2010 National Survey of College Graduates to study the effects of education, job matching, employer characteristics, and occupation on wage inequality among college-educated workers. Various measures of workers’ bargaining power are considered in conjunction with indicators of employers’ rents. These organizational variables have been mostly ignored in recent research that has emphasized three-digit occupational codes. After controlling for organizational variables, our findings indicate that the incremental R2 uniquely attributable to occupation is small and increased only slightly between 2003 and 2010. As a proportion of the total explained variance, the component attributable to occupation actually declined. By contrast, after controlling for occupation, the incremental R2 attributable to organizational variables increased more substantially. Our results imply that wage inequality among college-educated workers is now more directly affected by employee bargaining power and employer rents than by occupation.
Linear credit risk models

We introduce a novel class of credit risk models in which the drift of the survival process of a firm is a linear function of the factors. The prices of defaultable bonds and credit default swaps (CDS) are linear–rational in the factors. The price of a CDS option can be uniformly approximated by polynomials in the factors. Multi-name models can produce simultaneous defaults, generate positively as well as negatively correlated default intensities, and accommodate stochastic interest rates. A calibration study illustrates the versatility of these models by fitting CDS spread time series. A numerical analysis validates the efficiency of the option price approximation method.
Venous Thromboembolism Prevention in Patients with Heart Failure: An Often Neglected Issue

Several epidemiological studies have shown a high prevalence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) complications in patients with acute heart failure; in addition, the level of risk associated with this disease is notable, ranging from 15 to 30%. Three large clinical trials have clearly demonstrated the efficacy and safety of pharmacological prophylaxis in internal medicine patients hospitalized for an acute medical disease; on the contrary, until now there are no studies which have evaluated antithrombotic prophylaxis in a selected population of patients with heart failure only. Moreover, discrepancies existing among recommendations reported in different guidelines may produce uncertainties in the management of VTE prevention in patients with heart failure and may contribute to an underuse of thromboprophylaxis in the daily clinical practice. The aim of this review is to analyze the existing evidence about VTE risk in patients with heart failure as well as the efficacy and safety of antithrombotic prevention, and to underline which are the most important unmet clinical issues for the optimal management of thromboprophylaxis in this particular clinical setting.
Startle cue-reactivity differentiates between light and heavy smokers.

AIMS It was assumed that the startle amplitude in smokers is reduced while viewing pictures of smoking, suggesting that smoking cues are appetitive. The goal of the present study was to investigate (i) whether smoking scenes induce appetitive cue effects in smokers, and (ii) whether smoking intensity is related to cue-reactivity. DESIGN Smokers and non-smokers participated in a single session. PARTICIPANTS A total of 62 individuals participated: 36 smokers and 26 non-smokers. MEASUREMENTS Participants took part in an acoustic affective startle experiment using standardized pleasant, neutral and unpleasant scenes from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), as well as pictures of smoking. The effect of smoking cues was assessed by comparing neutral and smoking scenes (termed cue-related startle suppression, CSS). FINDINGS While there was no overall difference between smokers and non-smokers regarding the CSS, light smokers showed significantly increased cue-reactivity towards smoking-related cues, as compared with heavy smokers and non-smokers. In addition, light smokers also displayed stronger appetitive responses towards positive stimuli. CONCLUSIONS These data support recent theories which discriminate between habit-based and incentive-based drug abuse. This distinction may have consequences for the assessment and treatment of drug-addicted subjects. Furthermore, incentive-based light smoking seems to have general effects on the reward system.
Analyzing and Interpreting Data

A well-planned and carefully executed analysis is essential for any epidemiologic study, even one conducted during the frenzy of a field investigation. An analysis plan, or at least table shells, should be drafted to guide the analysis. To assess the relationship between an exposure and a health outcome, measures of association should be used that are appropriate for the study design—risk ratios for cohort studies, odds ratios for case–control studies, and prevalence ratios for cross-sectional studies. Measures of public health impact can be calculated to reflect the contribution of an exposure, either harmful or beneficial, on occurrence of the outcome among a population. Although tests of statistical significance address the role of chance in an apparent exposure–outcome association, they largely have been replaced by confidence intervals that reflect the range of values of the association that are consistent with the study data. When two or more exposures seem to be associated with the outcome, or when confounding might be present, stratified analysis and logistic regression can be used to clarify the contributions of each exposure. Before accepting that an apparent association is real, consider whether chance, bias, or investigator error might account for the finding. The strength of the evidence, as well as epidemiologic judgment, should guide public health decision-making and action.
10 Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis : Biologic Approaches to Treatment

Joint injuries are becoming increasingly common, with young adults between the ages of 1844 seeking medical attention for joint sprains, dislocation, fractures, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscal tears, and others. The cascade of events that follow these joint injuries have been shown to increase the risk of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) by 2050% (Anderson et al,2011). Therefore, understanding biological responses that predispose to PTOA should help in determining treatment strategies to delay and/or prevent the progression of the disease. Ex vivo and in vivo studies (Anderson et al,2011;Buckwalter et al,2004;Furman et al, 2007; Guilak et al,2004; Hurtig et al, 2009) have provided evidence that the force and severity of the impact applied to the joint are among the risk factors involved in the development of PTOA. Recent research on the events that follow joint trauma have shown chondrocyte death and apoptosis, inflammation (elevation of caspases, selected proinflammatory cytokines, matrix fragments, nitric oxide, reactive oxygen species [ROS], etc.) and matrix damage/fragmentation to be early phase responses to injury. Together they lead to the development of OA-like focal cartilage lesions characterized by the loss of matrix constituents, surface fibrillation, and fissures that if untreated have a tendency to expand and progress to fully-blown disease. Currently, the only treatments available for joint trauma are surgical interventions, such as microfracture, articular chondrocyte transplantation, autografting, allografting, debridement and lavage. There are also some experimental approaches that involve engineering of cartilage with the use of juvenile cartilage, scaffolds and various polymeric matrices, but those are still in development. To the best of our knowledge none of them could regenerate normal adult hyaline cartilage that is able to perform required functions, sustain the load and integrate with the host tissue. Furthermore, newly repaired tissue, due to its imperfect structural organization, may also be more susceptible to re-injury, an important aspect that often remains forgotten. Therefore, there is an unmet need in the development of novel therapeutic approaches based on the mechanisms that drive the onset and progression of PTOA in order to stimulate biologic repair, delay or prevent the need of surgery, or when used together, improve the outcome of surgical interventions if biologics are applied prior, during, or soon after surgery. Based on our current understanding of the molecular and
Bright Light Delights: Effects of Daily Light Exposure on Emotions, Restactivity Cycles, Sleep and Melatonin Secretion in Severely Demented Patients.

OBJECTIVE We tested whether the effects of a dynamic lighting system are superior to conventional lighting on emotions, agitation behaviour, quality of life, melatonin secretion and circadian restactivity cycles in severely demented patients. As a comparison, an age matched control patient group was exposed to conventional lighting. For none of the output measures were significant differences between the two lighting conditions found during the 8 study weeks in fall/winter. METHODS Thus, we divided the patient cohort (n = 89) into two groups, solely based on the median of their daily individual light exposure. Patients with higher average daily light exposure (>417 lx) showed significantly longer emotional expressions of pleasure and alertness per daily observations than patients with lower daily light exposure. Moreover, they had a higher quality of life, spent less time in bed, went to bed later and initiated their sleep episodes later, even though the two groups did not differ with respect to age, severity of cognitive impairment and mobility. In general, men were more agitated, had shorter sleep with more wake episodes, had a lower circadian amplitude of relative rest-wake activity and interdaily circadian stability than women. In particular, lower daily light exposures significantly predicted lower circadian amplitudes of rest-activity cycles in men but not in women. This may indicate sex specific susceptibility to daily light exposures for rest-activity regulation in older demented patients. RESULTS Our results provide evidence that a higher daily light exposure has beneficial effects on emotions and thus improved quality of life in a severely demented patient group.
Receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase α participates in the m1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor‐dependent regulation of Kv1.2 channel activity

The phosphorylation state of a given tyrosine residue is determined by both protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) and protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) activities. However, little is known about the functional interaction of these opposing activities at the level of an identified effector molecule. G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs), including the m1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR), regulate a tyrosine kinase activity that phosphorylates and suppresses current generated by the Kv1.2 potassium channel. We examined the possibility that PTPs also participate in this signaling pathway since the tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor vanadate increases the extent of both Kv1.2 phosphorylation and suppression. We show that an endogenous transmembrane tyrosine phosphatase, receptor tyrosine phosphatase α (RPTPα), becomes tyrosine phosphorylated and co‐immunoprecipitates with Kv1.2 in a manner dependent on m1 receptor activation. The N‐ and C‐termini of Kv1.2 are shown to bind RPTPα in vitro. Overexpression of RPTPα in Xenopus oocytes increases resting Kv1.2 current. Biochemical and electrophysiological analysis reveals that recruiting RPTPα to Kv1.2 functionally reverses the tyrosine kinase‐induced phosphorylation and suppression of Kv1.2 current in mammalian cells. Taken together, these results identify RPTPα as a new target of m1 mAChR signaling and reveal a novel regulatory mechanism whereby GPCR‐mediated suppression of a potassium channel depends on the coordinate and parallel regulation of PTK and PTP activities.
Drug-Drug Interactions with Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists

Objective: To review drug interaction studies of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) and concurrent oral medications. Data Sources: PubMed was searched (to December 5, 2011) using the terms exenatide, liraglutide, albiglutide, and lixisenatide. The search was limited to studies published in English and conducted in adults. Abstracts from the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions from 2004 through 2011 were also searched. Study Selection and Data Extraction: All abstracts were screened for eligibility, which consisted of studies reporting the effects of GLP-1 RA administration on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of concurrent oral medications. Data extracted from eligible trials included study and population characteristics; pharmacokinetic parameters including maximum concentration (Cmax,), time to maximum concentration (tmax), and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC); and pharmacodynamic properties. Data Synthesis: Our search identified 254 potentially relevant articles; of those, 11 articles evaluating 15 drug interactions were reviewed. Only 1 study was conducted in patients with type 2 diabetes. Equivalence in AUC was demonstrated in the majority of drug interactions studied (11 of 15). The AUCs of acetaminophen and lovastatin were decreased after exenatide administration and those of lisinopril and digoxin were decreased after liraglutide administration. In 10 studies, GLP-1 RAs decreased the Cmax and, in 14 studies, prolonged the tmax of study drug. Pharmacokinetic properties of drugs and differences in study design can explain differences in interaction potential. Conclusions: GLP-IRAs may produce clinically significant interactions with drugs that require achievement of target peak concentrations or a rapid onset of action. Studies in patients with type 2 diabetes are needed to further assess and allow comparison of several GLP-1 RA agents’ impact on steady-state pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of concomitant oral medications.
Streblidae (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) from Yucatan and Updated Species List for Mexico

ABSTRACT This study describes the diversity of ectoparasitic bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae) in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. Fieldwork was carried out from June 2010 to January 2012 in seven municipalities of Yucatan, where 13 sampling sites were selected to capture bats using mist nets. Over 156 sampling nights a total of 910 bats were captured; these belonged to 19 species in four families: Mormoopidae, Phyllostomidae, Natalidae, and Vespertilionidae. Phyllostomidae was the richest family (13 bat species), followed by Mormoopidae (3 spp.), Vespertilionidae (2 spp.), and Natalidae (1 spp.). After careful inspection of the bats, a total of 2,134 Streblid bat flies were collected, belonging to 17 species in six genera (Nycterophilia coxata Ferris, N. natali Wenzel, Trichobius diphyllae Wenzel, T. dugesii Townsend, T. galei Wenzel, T. hirsutulus Bequaert, T. intermedius Peterson and Hurka, T. parasiticus Gervais, T. uniformis Curran, T. yunkeri Wenzel, Megistopoda aranea Coquillett, M. proxima Séguy, Aspidoptera delatorrei Wenzel, Strebla alvarezi Wenzel, S. diphyllae Wenzel, S. wiedemanni Kolenati, and Metelasmus pseudopterus Coquillett). The richest and most diverse genus was Trichobius. Five species—N. natali, T. diphyllae, M. proxima, A. delatorrei, and M. pseudopterus, are new records for Yucatan, and T. galei is a new record for the country, increasing the total number of Streblidae species for Mexico to 49.