Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of a Glutamine Enema on Anastomotic Healing in an Animal Colon Anastomosis Model

Purpose Anastomotic leakage in colorectal surgery is a very important issue. Although many studies have shown the positive effects of enteral glutamine (Gln) on anastomotic healing, none has assessed the effects of administering Gln via an enema for anastomotic healing. To fill this study gap, this study investigated the intraluminal effect of administration of Gln enema on the healing of colonic anastomosis in a rat model. Methods Thirty Wistar albino rats were divided into three groups containing 10 rats each and were subjected to distal left colon transection and anastomosis. Postoperatively, group I (the control group) was administered no treatment, group II was administered daily placebo enemas containing physiological saline, and group III was administered daily 2% L-Gln enemas. After sacrifice on postoperative day 5, anastomotic healing, burst pressure, tissue hydroxyproline levels, and histological parameters were measured, and group values were compared via statistical analysis. Results Group III was found to have the highest mean bursting pressure and tissue hydroxyproline levels and the lowest mean ischemia score. While the values of these parameters were not found to differ significantly among the groups, the lack of significance may have been due to the limited number of subjects examined. Conclusion Administration of a Gln enema may have a positive effect on anastomosis in terms of bursting pressure and histopathological parameters. Future research should examine administration of a preoperative Gln enema as a means of decreasing the traumatic effects of the enema and identifying its applicability in surgical practice.
Orphanhood, Household Relationships, School Attendance and Child Labor in Zimbabwe

The high incidence of orphanhood among children makes Zimbabwe an interesting case to study the school/work decision for children able to attend lower secondary. After controlling for household wealth, covariates at the individual, and household levels, and community fixed effects, I find that orphans are less likely to attend school and more likely to work. While orphans and non‐orphans face the same marginal cost to go to school and work, living in blended households places orphans at a higher disadvantage. The main factor related to discrimination within households is living with household heads with whom children are not closely biologically related. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reducing unnecessary cross-matching: a patient-specific blood ordering system is more accurate in predicting who will receive a blood transfusion than the maximum blood ordering system.

UNLABELLED Most blood transfusions are given in the operating room. Adoption of the Maximum Surgical Blood Ordering Schedule in the 1970s reduced the amount of blood unnecessarily cross-matched, but the national cross-match-to-transfusion ratio remains at approximately two-to-one. We tested the ability of a patient-specific blood ordering system (PSBOS) to more accurately predict potential operative transfusion. All adult patients who had blood cross-matched before surgery (February through June 1999) for elective operative procedures at the University of Michigan Hospital were identified. Complex surgeries were excluded. Surgeons estimated the expected blood loss for their surgeries, and the expected postoperative hematocrit was calculated using the patient's blood volume, the surgeon-defined expected blood loss, and preoperative hematocrit. Lowest tolerated hematocrit was set at 21% except in patients with coronary artery disease or who were ASA physical status III or more (28%). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the PSBOS were calculated. Our analysis included 178 cases in which blood was cross-matched before surgery, representing 69 different surgeries and 42 surgeons. Only 16% of patients received an intraoperative transfusion. Of the 156 patients that PSBOS predicted would not require an operating room transfusion, 139 were not transfused. Of the 21 patients PSBOS predicted would be transfused, 11 were. The sensitivity of the algorithm as tested was 41%, the specificity 93%, the positive predictive value was 55%, and the negative predictive value was 89%. We conclude that PSBOS, which includes patient and surgeon variables in transfusion prediction, is more accurate than the Maximum Surgical Blood Ordering Schedule, which uses only surgical procedure. IMPLICATIONS Currently, many units of blood set aside for surgery are never required, resulting in extra work and expense for blood banks. A formula that included patient weight and hematocrit and typical surgery blood loss was used to predict who would require transfusions. We reduced the predicted number of patients who had blood set aside from 178 to 21.
Yes-Associated Protein Expression Is Correlated to the Differentiation of Prostate Adenocarcinoma

Background Yes-associated protein (YAP) in the Hippo signaling pathway is a growth control pathway that regulates cell proliferation and stem cell functions. Abnormal regulation of YAP was reported in human cancers including liver, lung, breast, skin, colon, and ovarian cancer. However, the function of YAP is not known in prostate adenocarcinoma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of YAP in tumorigenesis, differentiation, and prognosis of prostate adenocarcinoma. Methods The nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of YAP was examined in 188 cases of prostate adenocarcinoma using immunohistochemistry. YAP expression levels were evaluated in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the prostate adenocarcinoma and the adjacent normal prostate tissue. The presence of immunopositive tumor cells was evaluated and interpreted in comparison with the patients’ clinicopathologic data. Results YAP expression levels were not significantly different between normal epithelial cells and prostate adenocarcinoma. However, YAP expression level was significantly higher in carcinomas with a high Gleason grades (8–10) than in carcinomas with a low Gleason grades (6–7) (p < .01). There was no statistical correlation between YAP expression and stage, age, prostate-specific antigen level, and tumor volume. Biochemical recurrence (BCR)–free survival was significantly lower in patients with high YAP expressing cancers (p = .02). However high YAP expression was not an independent prognostic factor for BCR in the Cox proportional hazards model. Conclusions The results suggested that YAP is not associated with prostate adenocarcinoma development, but it may be associated with the differentiation of the adenocarcinoma. YAP was not associated with BCR.
SOME PARASITIC AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN WATERFOWL IN OKLAHOMA1

Blood films and serum samples from free-ranging waterfowl wintering in and migrating through Oklahoma were examined for hematozoa and tested for antibody responses to Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and type-A influenza. One-hundred-eleven of 728 birds (15.24%) were positive for 1 or more hematozoa. Serologic testing revealed 11 of 280 (3.93%) positive for antibody to NDV and 5 of 171 (2.95%) positive for antibody to type-A influenza.
Citizen dialogue for whom? Competing rationalities in urban planning, the case of Gothenburg, Sweden

This paper analyses citizen dialogue in urban planning from a governmentality perspective. We focus on (1) how motives and goals connected to ‘citizen dialogue’ and the activities and practices initiated to accomplish these can be understood in light of competing rationalities and (2) how public officials and other actors involved in organising citizen dialogues understand and manage the tensions between competing rationalities. The analysis draws on a case study of urban development in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. We suggest a critical approach to the use of citizen dialogue as a technology of government, an approach enabling an analysis of various functions and implications of citizen dialogues.
Pancreatic Islets Are Very Poor in Rectifying Oxidative DNA Damage

Objective: Free radicals that escape scavenging by antioxidant defense damage lipids, proteins, and DNA. Damage to DNA can be repaired. Therefore, both cells' antioxidant defense and their ability to repair oxidatively damaged DNA decide its fate to survive oxidative stress. Pancreatic islets cells with poor antioxidant defense were checked for their ability to remove oxidative damage form DNA. Methods: For ex vivo DNA repair, assay-cultured pancreatic islets and liver slices were treated with 1 and 10 mM H2O2, respectively, for 30 minutes. After incubation for different time intervals, 8-hydroxy-2&vprime;-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in DNA of these cells was estimated using monoclonal antibody raised against 8-OHdG by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. For in vitro DNA repair assay, oxidatively damaged pBR322 was incubated with nuclear extracts of islet and liver cells, and 8-OHdG retained in the plasmid was quantitated. Results: Oxidative damage induced by H2O2 was removed quickly and efficiently from DNA by liver cells compared with islet cells. The repair of oxidatively damaged plasmid DNA in vitro was also performed more efficiently (P < 0.05) by nuclear extracts from liver cells compared with islet cell. Conclusions: We clearly demonstrate that in addition to their low antioxidant defense, islets are very poor in rectifying the oxidative DNA damage.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Obesity: Systematic Review of Behavioral Interventions for Women

Objective: Studies have demonstrated a relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adult obesity. Group interventions addressing the psychosocial sequelae of ACES using a trauma-informed approach for adults are well described in the literature. There is also a significant body of literature on the efficacy and proposed structure of interventions addressing weight reduction in adults. However, it is unknown how often interventions addressing attainment of a healthy weight incorporate a specific focus on adult women with a history of ACEs, including childhood abuse and trauma. Method: A systematic review of the literature was conducted using standard approaches. Two additional reviews used broadened inclusion criteria to identify and include group-level interventions that addressed intended outcomes other than obesity. Studies that examined the link between ACEs and obesity as a primary outcome and that provided a description of any potential mediating variables were also identified. The current literature search was conducted as the first step in a multifaceted approach to the development of a set of proposed research protocol designs for an Office on Women’s Health-sponsored trauma-informed healthy weight pilot intervention for obese women with a history of ACEs. Results: No articles describing interventions for the treatment of obesity or overweight women with a history of ACEs were identified. Eleven articles describing ACE-related interventions and 15 studies identifying mediators were reviewed. Conclusions: Intervention studies for women with ACEs, other than psychotherapy, are limited. Significant mediators to be considered include anxiety symptoms and internalizing behaviors. Specific recommendations for interventions are provided.
Vitamin D Status, Latitude and their Associations with Some Health Parameters in Children: National Food and Nutrition Surveillance

Background: Recent data indicate a role for vitamin D in many health aspects including anthropometric measures and blood lipid profiles. Dermal vitamin D synthesis may be influenced by latitude. However, the contribution of latitude in vitamin D status and its association with anthropometric and blood lipid measures in Iranian children have not been studied to date. Methods: We used data from the National Food and Nutritional Surveillance Program. In total, 667 apparently healthy children aged 5–18 years were randomly selected from six provinces of Iran with different latitudes, from 29 to 37°. Weight, height, circulating 25-hydroxycalciferol; calcidiol [25(OH)D] and blood lipids were measured. Results: In total, 16.7 and 4.1% of children were overweight or obese, respectively. The mean 25(OH)D concentration was 27.3 ± 17.6 nmol/l (95% confidence interval: 26.0–28.7 nmol/l). Over 93% of all children had suboptimal circulating calcidiol concentrations. Undesirable status of vitamin D, serum triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein were all more prevalent in children living in regions >33° latitude than those in <33°, significantly. There was no significant difference in duration of sun exposure between children living in latitudes below and above 33° (p = 0.093). In multivariate regression model, sex, latitude, body mass index for age z-score and sun exposure duration were independently related to 25(OH)D concentrations, but age was not. Conclusion: Despite significant association of latitude and vitamin D status, hypovitaminosis D is prevalent across latitude gradient in Iranian children. Our findings warrant immediate sustainable nutritional intervention, including supplementation, to protect children from hypovitaminosis D irrespective of the latitude of their residence.
Risk factors for mortality among MDR- and XDR-TB patients in a high HIV prevalence setting.

SETTING Recent studies suggest that the prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in sub-Saharan Africa may be rising. This is of concern, as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection in multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB has been associated with exceedingly high mortality rates. OBJECTIVE To identify risk factors associated with mortality in MDR- and XDR-TB patients co-infected with HIV in South Africa. DESIGN Case-control study of patients who died of all causes within 2 years of diagnosis with MDR- or XDR-TB. RESULTS Among 123 MDR-TB patients, 78 (63%) died following diagnosis. CD4 count ≤ 50 (HR 4.64, P = 0.01) and 51-200 cells/mm(3) (HR 4.17, P = 0.008) were the strongest independent risk factors for mortality. Among 139 XDR-TB patients, 111 (80%) died. CD4 count ≤ 50 cells/mm(3) (HR 4.46, P = 0.01) and resistance to all six drugs tested (HR 2.54, P = 0.04) were the principal risk factors. Use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) was protective (HR 0.34, P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS Mortality due to MDR- and XDR-TB was associated with greater degree of immunosuppression and drug resistance. Efforts to reduce mortality must focus on preventing the amplification of resistance by strengthening TB treatment programs, as well as reducing the pool of immunosuppressed HIV-infected patients through aggressive HIV testing and ART initiation.
The Perils of Relying on Interested Parties to Evaluate Scientific Quality

Recently, there has been a trend in both civil litigation and regulatory law to circumvent the scientific community's collective judgment on the quality of individual studies with an adversarial process of evaluating scientific quality using interest groups. The Supreme Court's Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc opinion and two recent "good science" laws passed by Congress adopt an adversarial process informed by affected parties for reviewing and screening scientific quality. These developments are unwise. Both theory and experience instruct that an adversarial, interest group-dominated approach to evaluating scientific quality will lead to the unproductive deconstruction of science, further blur the distinction between policy and scientific judgments, and result in poor decisions because the courts and agencies that preside over these "good science" contests sometimes lack the scientific competency needed to make sound decisions.
Restless legs syndrome in diabetic neuropathy: a frequent manifestation of small fiber neuropathy

Abstract As the occurrence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in diabetes is controversial, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of RLS in a cohort of patients with diabetic neuropathy and to analyze the features of the associated neuropathy. We investigated the occurrence of RLS diagnosed in accordance with the criteria of the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group in a cohort of patients with polyneuropathy and mononeuropathy multiplex associated with diabetes mellitus (DM), or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in a retrospective study. RLS was present in 33/99 patients with neuropathy associated with DM/IGT/IFG (84 with distal polyneuropathy and 15 with multiple mononeuropathy). Comparing patients with or without RLS, small fiber sensory neuropathy was more common in the RLS patients (15/33 vs. 15/66), as were symptoms of burning feet (10/33 vs. 6/66). In several patients, RLS was responsive to neuropathic pain medications. The frequent occurrence of RLS in association with thermal dysesthesias may reflect the involvement of small sensory fibers in the form of hyperexcitable C fibers or A‐delta fiber deafferentation. We suggest that RLS may be triggered by abnormal sensory inputs from small fibers, especially involved in neuropathy associated with DM/IGT/IFG. Our data show that RLS is a relevant feature of diabetic neuropathy, as a frequent and potentially treatable manifestation of small fiber involvement in the course of DM and IGT/IFG.
Tackling Conventional Agriculture: The Institutionalization of Community Supported Agriculture's (CSA) Principles

The conventional agriculture system can cause ecological, social, and economic challenges. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an alternative food system that embodies principles like community building, risk sharing, and ecological sustainability. These principles help to address many social, economic, and ecological inequalities and challenges. In reality however these principles are not always practiced. This article explores the institutionalization of the CSA principles within the field through a literature review and the application of Lawrence and Suddaby's taxonomy of institutional work. It investigates the actions that create, maintain, and disrupt the principles as institutions. Findings show apprenticeship programs as an effective means to spread the CSA philosophy. They also highlight a reluctance by CSA organizers to ensure adherence to rules, while showing that CSA organizers are the most important actor when considering institutionalization. As well, the results reveal some actions that are influenced by conventional thinking or that are aimed at making the CSA experience more convenient led to the disruption of the principles. This reveals the need for research into the intent of actor's when disrupting the principles given the principles importance in addressing problems created by industrial agricultural.
Two distinct regions of loss on chromosome arm 4q in primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE To more clearly define the frequency and the regions of chromosome arm 4q loss in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. DESIGN A retrospective microsatellite analysis of DNA from previously microdissected primary tumor samples. SETTING Academic medical center. PATIENTS AND METHODS One hundred primary tumor samples from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were analyzed for loss of heterozygosity on the long arm of chromosome 4. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival for 97 patients for whom clinical data were available. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare survival, and logistic regression was used to search for associations between clinical tumor characteristics and 4q status. RESULTS Analysis of 33 polymorphic microsatellite markers identified 51 samples (51%) exhibiting loss of heterozygosity of 4q in at least 1 locus. Eighteen tumors revealed loss at all informative markers, indicating monosomy or complete deletion of 4q. Thirty-three tumors displayed partial loss of heterozygosity and delineated 2 minimal areas of loss at 4q2324 and 4q2829. Eleven tumors displayed loss solely at the 4q2324 region, 13 tumors displayed deletions confined to the 4q2829 region, and 9 tumors displayed selective loss at both regions. A separate analysis in a subset of 94 primary head and neck tumors was done to further delineate the minimal area of chromosomal loss at 4q2324. Analysis of 8 markers in this region allowed us to identify the smallest region of loss between markers D4S2986 and D4S1564 (a distance of 2 centimorgans). Review of the clinical records of 97 patients revealed no statistically significant association between 4q status and any clinical variable, including survival. CONCLUSION These results confirm a high frequency of chromosome arm 4q loss in primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and might demarcate 2 novel putative suppressor loci involved in progression of this carcinoma.
Complementary foods consumed by 6 – 12-month-old rural infants in South Africa are inadequate in micronutrients

Abstract Objective To determine the nutrient composition of complementary foods consumed by 6–12-month-old South African infants. Design Nutrient intake was determined for infants who were recruited to participate in a randomised controlled trial using a single 24-hour dietary recall. Setting/subjects Infants aged 6–12 months (n = 475) residing in The Valley of a Thousand Hills, a rural area in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Results Energy and protein intakes from complementary foods were adequate. Infants who consumed infant products (commercially available fortified infant cereals/ready-to-eat canned baby foods/formula milk powder) had significantly higher intakes of calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and vitamin C than infants who did not consume any infant products. For infants who consumed infant cereals (n = 142), these cereals provided 51% of total iron intake. Infant cereals provided more than 25% of total intake for magnesium, thiamine, niacin and vitamin B12. For infants consuming ready-to-eat canned baby foods (n = 77), these products contributed less than 15% of total intake for all the micronutrients. The nutrient density of the complementary diet was less than half the desired density for calcium, iron and zinc. Animal products were consumed by 17% of infants, 26% consumed dairy products and 18% consumed vitamin-A-rich fruit and vegetables during the 24-hour recall period. Conclusion The nutrient composition of complementary foods among rural South African infants was inadequate, especially for iron, zinc and calcium. Strategies should be developed to improve the nutritional quality of their diets.