Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reproducibility of the diagnosis of diabetes over a 30-month follow-up: the Paris Prospective Study.

OBJECTIVE To describe the change in diabetic status over 30 months. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Cohort study of 5,400 Caucasian men from the Paris Prospective Study, aged 44-55 years, who were not known as having diabetes at baseline. Oral glucose tolerance tests were performed at baseline and after 30 months. RESULTS At baseline, diabetes was diagnosed in 2.9% of the men by fasting plasma glucose (FPG) > or =7.0 mmol/l and in 0.9% by isolated postchallenge hyperglycemia (IPH) (FPG <7.0 mmol/l and 2-h plasma glucose concentration > or =11.1 mmol/l), i.e., one in four of all men with newly diagnosed diabetes. Thirty months later, 42% of the men with diabetes diagnosed by FPG reverted to nondiabetic status, compared with 72% of those with diabetes diagnosed by IPH (P < 0.0001). For the men with diabetes diagnosed by FPG at baseline, diabetes had been diagnosed by a physician at 30 months in 11.5%, in contrast to only 3.9% of those with diabetes diagnosed by IPH (P < 0.05). For the 51 men with diabetes diagnosed by IPH at baseline, those who reverted to nondiabetic status had a lower frequency of family history of diabetes (P < 0.1), a higher mean corpuscular volume (P < 0.08), and a significantly higher total cholesterol concentration (P < 0.006) at baseline; in contrast, for the 156 men with diabetes diagnosed by FPG at baseline, the men who reverted to nondiabetic status and those who remained diabetic had similar characteristics. CONCLUSIONS In this epidemiological study, diabetes diagnosed by one FPG concentration was more stable than diabetes diagnosed by one IPH; in clinical practice, the diagnosis of diabetes requires confirmation of the hyperglycemia.
Patient Safety Climate in US Hospitals: Variation by Management Level

Background:Strengthening hospital safety culture offers promise for reducing adverse events, but efforts to improve culture may not succeed if hospital managers perceive safety differently from frontline workers. Objectives:To determine whether frontline workers and supervisors perceive a more negative patient safety climate (ie, surface features, reflective of the underlying safety culture) than senior managers in their institutions. To ascertain patterns of variation within management levels by professional discipline. Research Design:A safety climate survey was administered from March 2004 to May 2005 in 92 US hospitals. Individual-level cross sectional comparisons related safety climate to management level. Hierarchical and hospital-fixed effects modeling tested differences in perceptions. Subjects:Random sample of hospital personnel (18,361 respondents). Measures:Frequency of responses indicating absence of safety climate (percent problematic response) overall and for 8 survey dimensions. Results:Frontline workers’ safety climate perceptions were 4.8 percentage points (1.4 times) more problematic than were senior managers', and supervisors’ perceptions were 3.1 percentage points (1.25 times) more problematic than were senior managers'. Differences were consistent among 7 safety climate dimensions. Differences by management level depended on discipline: senior manager versus frontline worker discrepancies were less pronounced for physicians and more pronounced for nurses, than they were for other disciplines. Conclusions:Senior managers perceived patient safety climate more positively than nonsenior managers overall and across 7 discrete safety climate domains. Patterns of variation by management level differed by professional discipline. Continuing efforts to improve patient safety should address perceptual differences, both among and within groups by management level.
A Cross-Layer Design Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks with Environmental Monitoring Applications

In the past few years, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are becoming more and more attractive because they can provide services that are not possible or not feasible before. In this paper, we address the design issues of an important type of WSNs, i.e., WSNs that enable environmental monitoring applications. We first provide an overview and analysis for our ongoing research project about a WSN for coastal-area acoustic monitoring. Based on the analysis, we then propose a cross-layer design framework for future WSNs that provide environmental monitoring services. The focus of the framework is the network layer design and the key idea of the framework is to fully understand and exploit both the physical layer characteristics and the requirements of upper layer applications and services. Particularly, for the physical layer characteristics, our framework 1) can enable advanced communication technologies such as cooperative communication and network coding; 2) can utilize the transmission characteristics for identifying/authenticating a sender; and 3) can exploit the communication pattern as a mean of sensing. For the requirements of applications and services, our framework 1) is service-oriented; 2) can enable distributed applications; 3) can utilize the fact that many applications do not have strict delay constraints. To illustrate the advantages of the framework, we also conduct a case study that may be a typical scenario in the near future. We believe that our study in this work can provide a guideline for future WSN design.
Banks' Exposure to Interest Rate Risk and the Transmission of Monetary Policy

We show empirically that banks' exposure to interest rate risk, or income gap, plays a crucial role in monetary policy transmission. In a first step, we show that banks typically retain a large exposure to interest rates that can be predicted with income gap. Secondly, we show that income gap also predicts the sensitivity of bank lending to interest rates. Quantitatively, a 100 basis point increase in the Fed funds rate leads a bank at the 75th percentile of the income gap distribution to increase lending by about 1.6 percentage points annually relative to a bank at the 25th percentile.
Incidental pulmonary emboli in oncology patients: prevalence, CT evaluation, and natural history.

PURPOSE To retrospectively determine the prevalence and natural history of incidental pulmonary emboli in oncology patients, the number of such cases reported at initial thoracic computed tomographic (CT) image interpretation, and the factors that contribute to underdiagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Institutional review board approval, which included HIPAA-compliant access to protected health information and waived patient consent requirements, was obtained for this retrospective study. Four hundred three consecutive oncology patients (199 male, 204 female; age range, 14-87 years; mean age, 55 years) in whom adequate-quality multidetector thoracic CT was performed within a 10-day period for indications other than pulmonary emboli assessment were identified. There were 31 (7.7%) inpatients at the time of imaging. Each imaging case was reviewed by two independent radiologists, and all pulmonary emboli were confirmed by a panel of three thoracic radiologists. Clinical charts were reviewed for demographic data, embolus detection, and outcomes up to 2 years after the initial examination. Patient groups were compared by using chi2 and one-sided binomial tests. RESULTS Sixteen (4.0%) of the 403 patients had pulmonary emboli. The highest prevalences were in patients with gynecologic malignancies (two of 13, 15%) and in those with melanoma (four of 41, 10%). Four (25%) of the 16 patients with emboli were identified at initial clinical CT image interpretation, and all had multiple emboli involving at least the lobar arteries. Missed emboli typically were solitary and involved smaller arteries; no other confounding factors were identified. Six (60%) of 10 patients with emboli who underwent any lower extremity imaging had deep vein thrombosis. With the exception of one patient, who was transferred back to the referring physician and lost to follow-up, all patients with reported pulmonary emboli were treated. Two patients had subsequent embolic events: one death despite treatment and one recurrent embolus in a nontreated patient. CONCLUSION Incidental pulmonary emboli were seen in 16 (4%) oncology patients but were initially reported in only four of them. The small size of involved arteries contributes to the failed detection at initial CT image interpretation, and patients with emboli in these small vessels may have deep vein thrombosis or recurrent emboli.
Birth of calves expressing the enhanced green fluorescent protein after transfer of fresh or vitrified/thawed blastocysts produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer

The present study examined effects of genetic manipulation and serum starvation on in vitro developmental potential of bovine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos and vitrification on in vivo developmental competence of transgenic SCNT blastocysts. Fetal oviduct epithelial cells (FOECs) were isolated from the oviduct of a Day 147 bovine fetus and transfected with a plasmid (pCE‐EGFP‐IRES‐NEO) containing the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and neomycin‐resistant (Neor) genes. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in cleavage rates or development rates to the blastocyst stage for SCNT embryos derived from FOECs (72.5 and 47.8%, respectively) or transfected FOECs (TFOECs, 73.8 and 47.7%, respectively); nor from serum‐fed (73.6 and 47.2%, respectively) or serum‐starved (72.7 and 48.3%, respectively) cells. Seventeen of Day 7 GFP‐embryos (eight fresh blastocysts and nine vitrified/thawed blastocysts ) were transferred to recipients with one embryo per recipient. Two (25%) recipients were confirmed pregnant at Day 60 in fresh blastocysts group, and three recipients (33%) were confirmed pregnant at Day 60 in vitrified/thawed blastocysts group. Two healthy calves (25%) were obtained from fresh blastocysts and one (11%) from vitrified/thawed blastocysts. Microsatellite analysis confirmed that the three clones were genetically identical to the donor cells. Moreover, PCR and Southern blot demonstrated integration of transgene in genomic DNA of all three cloned calves. Expression of GFP in skin biopsies isolated from transgenic cloned calves and fibroblasts derived from the skin biopsies revealed the activity of EGFP gene, and G418 resistance in vitro of these fibroblasts confirmed the activity of Neor gene. Our results show that genetic manipulation and serum starvation of donor cells (FOECs) do not affect in vitro developmental competence of bovine SCNT embryos, and vitrified transgenic SCNT blastocysts can develop to term successfully. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 69: 278–288, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Do Children with Better Inhibitory Control Donate More? Differentiating between Early and Middle Childhood and Cool and Hot Inhibitory Control

Inhibitory control may play an important part in prosocial behavior, such as donating behavior. However, it is not clear at what developmental stage inhibitory control becomes associated with donating behavior and which aspects of inhibitory control are related to donating behavior during development in early to middle childhood. The present study aimed to clarify these issues with two experiments. In Experiment 1, 103 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers completed cool (Stroop-like) and hot (delay of gratification) inhibitory control tasks and a donating task. The results indicated that there were no relationships between cool or hot inhibitory control and donating behavior in the whole group and each age group of the preschoolers. In Experiment 2, 140 elementary school children in Grades 2, 4, and 6 completed cool (Stroop-like) and hot (delay of gratification) inhibitory control tasks and a donating task. The results showed that inhibitory control was positively associated with donating behavior in the whole group. Cool and hot inhibitory control respectively predicted donating behavior in the second and sixth graders. Therefore, the present study reveals that donating behavior increasingly relies on specific inhibitory control, i.e., hot inhibitory control as children grow in middle childhood.
Mid-term results, and therapeutic management, for patients suffering hypertension after surgical repair of aortic coarctation

Abstract We designed our study to investigate the efficacy of a new therapeutic approach to late onset hypertension in patients after surgical repair of aortic coarctation. Several studies have shown a higher incidence of hypertension during daily activities, and during exercise, in patients after surgical correction of coarctation. To the best of our knowledge, however, no data exists concerning haemodynamics, the response of arterial pressures, and the effects of medications for lowering blood pressure during exercise or during daily activities. We studied 128 patients, aged 15.6 ± 4.3 years, to determine the response of blood pressure as we administered treatment in the attempt to achieve a normotensive state. We excluded patient with associated cardiac abnormalities, apart from those with bicuspid aortic valves. We evaluated blood pressure at rest in both the right arm and leg to establish presence of any gradient, as well as the blood pressure in the arm during exercise testing, and by 24-hour ambulatory monitoring. Atenolol was prescribed for those with elevated values of blood pressure but with a normal increment of heart rate during exercise. We prescribed Candesartan for those with elevated levels of blood pressure but with reduced increments of heart rate, specifically maximal heart rates of less than 85% of their predicted value. Both drugs were used when one alone was not effective. We found that, in young patients, candesartan provided better control of blood pressure with no side-effects, especially as demonstrated using 24-hour ambulatory monitoring, while atenolol was less effective, with more side-effects. Our experience suggests that both drugs should be used in patients who are non-responsive to monotherapy.
Effect of Emotional Dissonance on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Testing the Stressor-Strain-Outcome Model

ABSTRACT In this study, the stressor–strain–outcome (SSO) model developed by Koeske and Koeske was adopted to examine the mediating effect of burnout between emotional dissonance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The study involved 264 full-time Chinese school teachers (82 men, 16 women, and 22 individuals whose genders were not specified; mean age = 34.4 years and SD = 8.09 years). Correlation analysis showed that emotional dissonance is positively related to all three burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment). Emotional dissonance is also negatively related to OCB toward individuals. Results from structural equation modeling support the SSO model, which states that emotional dissonance first leads to burnout and then to lower OCB. The limitations and implications to the school management, such as provision of emotional regulation training and strengthening of the social network system, were also discussed.
The comparative beta-lactamase resistance and inhibitory activity of 1-oxa cephalosporin, cefoxitin and cefotaxime.

The beta-lactamase stability and inhibitory activity of 1-oxa cephalosporin, (6R,7R)-7-[[carboxy(4-hydroxyphenyl)acetyl]amino]-7-methoxy-3-[[(1-methyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)thio]methyl]-8-oxo-5-oxa-1-azabicyclo[4.2. 0]oct-2-ene-2-carboxylic acid, was investigated and compared to that of cefoxitin and cefotaxime. There was no detectable beta-lactamase hydrolysis of 1-oxa cephalosporin, cefotaxime and cefoxitin when incubated with beta-lactamases of plasmid or chromosomal origin which were primarily cephalosporinases or enzymes which hydrolyzed both penicillins and cephalosporins. The beta-lactamase inhibitory activity of 1-oxa cephalosporin was comparable to that of cefoxitin and cefotaxime. At equal molar concentration of substrate and inhibitor, cefoxitin, cefotaxime and 1-oxa cephalosporin effectively inhibited cephalosporinase hydrolysis of cephaloridine. Cefoxitin and cefotaxime were more effective inhibitors than the 1-oxa cephalosporin against a Providencia enzyme, whereas cefotaxime and 1-oxa cephalosporin were more effective inhibitors of a Citrobacter cephalosporinase.
The Effect of L-Carnitine and Physical Activity on Adipocytokines and Lipid Profile in Obese Women

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of L-carnitine and physical activity on adipocytokines (leptin, adiponectin hormones) and lipid profile in obese women. The study included 20 obese women, aged 50-55 years, BMI over 30 kg/m . Height 152-160 cm. they were divided to two equal groups, one 2
Effectiveness of Educational Program Based on PRECEDE Model on Improving Sexual Function among Diabetic Women

A quasi-experimental study aimed to study the effect of an educational program based on the PRECEDE model on improving sexual function among diabetic women. Study was conducted at diabetic outpatient clinic at Ain shams university hospital. A convenience sampling technique was used to recruit one hundred seventy six (176) women with type II diabetes those were randomly divided into two equal groups. Data collected through three tools: 1 st tool PRECEDE model questionnaire, 2 nd tool Female Sexual Function Index and 3 rd tool ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale. Results: the study showed no statistical significant difference between control and intervention group regarding marital satisfaction and total score of female sexual function at base line assessment (p=0.317, p=0.945 respectively). While, there was highly statistical significant difference between control and intervention group regarding marital satisfaction and total score of female sexual function after intervention (p=0.001, p=0.001 respectively). Conclusion: The findings confirm the effectiveness of an educational program based on the PRECEDE model on improving sexual function among diabetic women. Recommendations: in the light of the previous results of the study the researchers recommended the following: application of educational program based on PRECEDE model for diabetic women in all available diabetic clinic or center to improve women's sexual function.
Effects of pomegranate juice consumption on oxidative stress in patients with type 2 diabetes: a single-blind, randomized clinical trial

Abstract Increased free radicals production due to hyperglycemia produces oxidative stress in patients with diabetes. Pomegranate juice (PJ) has antioxidant properties. This study was conducted to determine the effects of PJ consumption in oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic patients. This study was a randomized clinical trial performed on 60, 40–65 years old diabetic patients. The patients were randomly allocated either to PJ consumption group or control. Patients in PJ group consumed 200 ml of PJ daily for six weeks. Sex distribution and the mean age were not different between two groups. After six weeks intervention, oxidized LDL and anti-oxidized LDL antibodies decreased and total serum antioxidant capacity and arylesterase activity of paraoxonase increased significantly in the PJ-treated group compared to the control group. Our data have shown that six weeks supplementation of PJ could have favorable effects on oxidative stress in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Renal protective effects of N-acetyl-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro in deoxycorticosterone acetate–salt hypertensive mice

Background Hypertension-induced renal injury is characterized by inflammation, fibrosis and proteinuria. Previous studies have demonstrated that N-acetyl-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro (Ac-SDKP) inhibits renal damage following diabetes mellitus and antiglomerular basement membrane nephritis. However, its effects on low-renin hypertensive nephropathy are not known. Thus, we hypothesized that Ac-SDKP has renal protective effects on deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)–salt hypertensive mice, decreasing inflammatory cell infiltration, matrix deposition and albuminuria. Method We uninephrectomized 16-week-old C57BL/6J mice and treated them with either placebo, DCOA (10 mg/10 g body weight subcutaneous) and 1% sodium chloride with 0.2% potassium chloride in drinking water (DOCA–salt) or DOCA–salt with Ac-SDKP (800 μg/kg per day) for 12 weeks. We measured blood pressure, urine albumin, glomerular matrix, renal collagen content, monocyte/macrophage infiltration and glomerular nephrin expression. Results Treatment with DOCA–salt significantly increased blood pressure (P < 0.01), which remained unaltered by Ac-SDKP. Ac-SDKP decreased DOCA–salt-induced renal collagen deposition, glomerular matrix expansion and monocyte/macrophage infiltration. Moreover, DOCA–salt-induced increase in albuminuria was normalized by Ac-SDKP (controls, 10.8 ± 1.7; DOCA–salt, 41 ± 5; DOCA–salt + Ac-SDKP, 13 ± 3 μg/10 g body weight per 24 h; P < 0.001, DOCA–salt vs. DOCA–salt + Ac-SDKP). Loss of nephrin reportedly causes excess urinary protein excretion; therefore, we determined whether Ac-SDKP inhibits proteinuria by restoring nephrin expression in the glomerulus of hypertensive mice. DOCA–salt significantly downregulated glomerular nephrin expression (controls, 37 ± 8; DOCA–salt, 10 ± 1.5% of glomerular area; P < 0.01), which was partially reversed by Ac-SDKP (23 ± 4.0% of glomerular area; P = 0.065, DOCA–salt vs. DOCA–salt + Ac-SDKP). Conclusion We concluded that Ac-SDKP prevents hypertension-induced inflammatory cell infiltration, collagen deposition, nephrin downregulation and albuminuria, which could lead to renoprotection in hypertensive mice.
MYOSLID Is a Novel Serum Response Factor–Dependent Long Noncoding RNA That Amplifies the Vascular Smooth Muscle Differentiation Program

Objective— Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) represent a growing class of noncoding genes with diverse cellular functions. We previously reported on SENCR, an lncRNA that seems to support the vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) contractile phenotype. However, information about the VSMC-specific lncRNAs regulated by myocardin (MYOCD)/serum response factor, the master switch for VSMC differentiation, is unknown. Approach and Results— To define novel lncRNAs with functions related to VSMC differentiation, we performed RNA sequencing in human coronary artery SMCs that overexpress MYOCD. Several novel lncRNAs showed altered expression with MYOCD overexpression and one, named MYOcardin-induced Smooth muscle LncRNA, Inducer of Differentiation (MYOSLID), was activated by MYOCD and selectively expressed in VSMCs. MYOSLID was a direct transcriptional target of both MYOCD/serum response factor and transforming growth factor-&bgr;/SMAD pathways. Functional studies revealed that MYOSLID promotes VSMC differentiation and inhibits VSMC proliferation. MYOSLID showed reduced expression in failed human arteriovenous fistula samples compared with healthy veins. Although MYOSLID did not affect gene expression of transcription factors, such as serum response factor and MYOCD, its depletion in VSMCs disrupted actin stress fiber formation and blocked nuclear translocation of MYOCD-related transcription factor A (MKL1). Finally, loss of MYOSLID abrogated transforming growth factor-&bgr;1–induced SMAD2 phosphorylation. Conclusions— We have demonstrated that MYOSLID, the first human VSMC-selective and serum response factor/CArG-dependent lncRNA, is a novel modulator in amplifying the VSMC differentiation program, likely through feed-forward actions of both MKL1 and transforming growth factor-&bgr;/SMAD pathways.