Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic factors and the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in post-curative surgery for Dukes B and C colon cancers and survival outcomes: a Malaysian experience.

BACKGROUND Adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in Dukes C colon cancers post-curative resection. However, the evidence for a role with Dukes B lesions remains unproven despite frequent use for disease characterized by poor prognostic features. In view of limited Asia-specific data, this study aimed to determine survival outcomes and identify prognostic factors in a tertiary teaching hospital in Malaysia. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 116 subjects who underwent curative surgery with and without adjuvant chemotherapy for Duke B and C primary colon adenocarcinomas diagnosed from 2004-2009 were recruited and data were collected retrospectively. Five-year overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) were analysed using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test. Prognostic factors were determined using Cox proportional hazards regression with both univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS The survival analysis demonstrated a 5-year OS of 74.0% for all patients, with 74.9% for Dukes C subjects receiving chemotherapy compared to 28.6% in those not receiving chemotherapy (p=0.001). For Dukes B disease, the 5-year survival rate was 82.6% compared to 75.0% for subjects receiving and not receiving chemotherapy, respectively (p=0.17). Independent prognostic factors identified included a CEA level more than 3.5 ng/ml (hazard ratio (HR)=4.78; p=0.008), serosal involvement (HR=3.75; p=0.028) and completion of chemotherapy (HR= 0.20; p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS In a regional context, this study supports current evidence from the West that adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in Dukes C colon cancers post curative surgery. However, although a clear benefit has yet to be proven for Dukes B disease, our results suggest survival improvement in selected cases.
High School Cross Country Running Injuries: A Longitudinal Study

ObjectiveTo determine the incidence rate of injury among high school cross country runners over a 15-year period. DesignProspective–longitudinal. SettingTwenty-three high schools in western Washington State under the surveillance of the University of Washington Athletic Health Care System between 1979–1994. ParticipantsOne hundred and ninety-nine cross country teams. Main Outcome MeasureInjuries resulting from running in a cross country practice or meet. ResultsThere were 1,622 injuries for an overall injury rate of 13.1/1,000 athletic exposures (AEs), i.e., participation of a runner in a practice or meet. Girls had a significantly higher overall injury rate (16.7/1,000 AEs) than boys (10.9/1,000 AEs) (p < 0.0001). Girls also had significantly higher injury rates than boys for both initial (p < 0.0001) and subsequent injuries (p < 0.0001), especially those at the same body location (p = 0.0001). This difference in risk estimates was consistent over a 15-year period. Nearly three-fourths of the injuries resulted in ≤4 days of disability. Overall, higher rates of initial injuries were reported during practices (9.2/1,000 AEs) than in meets (7.8/1,000 AEs) (p = 0.04). Shin injuries had the highest overall rates of new injury (1.9/1,000 AEs) and reinjury at the same body location (53.9/1,000 AEs). Girls had significantly higher initial injury rates than boys for shin (p < 0.0001), hip, and foot injuries (p < 0.01), and higher reinjury rates for knee, calf, and foot injuries, respectively (p < 0.05). ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that girl cross country runners are at higher risk of injury and reinjury than boy cross country runners.
Modified T-Model With an Improved Parameter Extraction Method for Silicon-Based Spiral Inductors

A modified T-equivalent circuit with an improved parameter extraction method is proposed in this letter for silicon-based spiral inductors. Two extra R-L series networks are introduced into the conventional frequency independent T-model to modify its failure in describing the inductance drop-down in the low frequency band. Besides, a “peak- Q” method is proposed in order to improve the accuracy of the parameter extraction method. Finally, the physical properties underling the critical model parameters of Rp and Cox, which have ever been described qualitatively, are now demonstrated experimentally.
Investigating Developmental and College-Level Course Enrollment and Passing before and after Florida's Developmental Education Reform. REL 2017-203.

After developmental education became optional for qualified students entering a Florida College System institution for the first time in fall 2014: • A smaller percentage of students enrolled in developmental education courses than in previous years. • Passing rates in developmental education courses in math, reading, and writing increased an average of 2 percentage points compared with fall 2013. • More students enrolled in gateway (entry-level college credit–bearing) courses, but passing rates in these courses declined compared with previous years, with the largest decline occurring in intermediate algebra. • The proportion of all students entering college for the first time who passed English and math gateway courses increased compared with previous years.
Oral health findings for HIV-infected adult medical patients from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study.

BACKGROUND The HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS) was conducted by a consortium of private and government institutions centered at the RAND Corp. to provide national estimates of adult medical patients who are HIV-positive. This article presents descriptive oral health findings from that study. METHODS The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) conducted four interviews of a nationally representative sample of adults with HIV who made a medical visit for regular care in early 1996. This article uses data from the second interview conducted between December 1996 and July 1997. The authors constructed analytical weights for each respondent so the 2,466 interviewees represented a population of 219,700. RESULTS Most adult medical patients with HIV rated their oral health as at least "good," but 12 percent (representing a population of 25,300) rated it as "poor. " Xerostomia was the most commonly reported symptom (37 percent) to arise in the time since the previous interview. Twenty-nine percent had a dental benefit under Medicaid and 23 percent had private insurance. Eighteen percent had not revealed their HIV status to the dentist they usually saw. CONCLUSIONS National data on adult medical patients with HIV provide a context for local or convenience sample studies and can help give direction to public health and public policy programs directed to the oral health needs of this population. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS The attitudes and beliefs of adult HIV patients should be taken into account in the creation of community health education programs and continuing education for dentists. Medicaid programs should include adult dental benefits.
Anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong: a Chinese perspective

SYNOPSIS A prospective study of sixteen Chinese anorexic patients in Hong Kong indicates that they were single young females who came from lower social class, exhibited severe self-induced weight loss, rigid maintenance of low body weight and amenorrhea. Weight reduction was primarily by dietary restriction. The typical bulimic syndrome and major depression were uncommon. There were multiple aetiological factors, but no pre-morbid obesity and little pressure to pursue slimness for beauty. Instead of displaying an intense fear of obesity and a distorted body image, patients more commonly attributed poor food intake to abdominal bloating. As such, they only partially fulfilled current criteria for diagnosis. It is argued that such clinical patterns arise logically from their sociocultural backgrounds, but may gradually change with Westernization.
Slow Recovery in an Economy with Uncertainty Shocks and Optimal Firm Liquidation

I examine optimal dynamic contracting between risk-averse investors and firm insiders in a dynamic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous firms. I quantify the effect of an aggregate increase in the uncertainty of firm-specific productivity. I obtain three results. First, the shock generates a large drop in GDP. Second, recovery is slow due to a large increase in the exit rate of young firms. Third, an increase in firm-specific uncertainty leads to an increase in the dispersion of output growth rates. These features are quantitatively consistent with empirical patterns in the Great Recession.
The mammalian rete testis — a morphological examination

The fine structure of the rete testis was examined in several primates, domestic animals and rodents. The rete testis consists of a series of interconnected wide channels lined with a simple cuboidal to columnar epithelium, resting on a thick basal lamina. Beneath the basal lamina dense bundles of collagen fibrils and a few blood vessels, lymphatics or nerve tissue are found. The epithelial cells are characterized by large, deeply indented nuclei, spherical or short rod‐shaped mitochondria, supranuclear Golgi profiles, some cisterns of rough endoplasmic reticulum, free ribosomes and numerous micropinocytotic vesicles in the ectoplasmic regions. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum, secretory granules, lysosomes or other types of dense bodies are rarely seen. The apical surface of the cells bears numerous microvilli and a single very long flagellum which is presumed to be motile. Adjoining lateral cell membranes exhibit a juxtaluminal tight junction, elaborate interdigitations and desmosomes. The basal plasma membrane is highly irregular greatly increasing its surface area of contact with the underlying interstitium. The nuclei of the rete epithelial cells contain pale‐staining, spherical structures, 2 m̈ in diameter, composed of circularly oriented fine filaments. The significance of the nuclear structures remains unknown. Thorotrast was injected into the lumen of the hamster and rat rete testis and 30 minutes later the proximal portion of the excurrent duct system of the testis was prepared for electron microscopy. Whereas the ductuli efferentes and first part of the epididymis possessed numerous apical vesicles filled with the thorotrast, this electron opaque substance was rarely found in the epithelium of the rete testis. Thus, incorporation of particulate matter into the lining cells of the rete from its lumen is apparently less active than in the epithelium of the ductuli and epididymis. Vascularly introduced intercellular tracer compounds such as lanthanum nitrate or horseradish peroxidase did not enter the lumen of the rete testis from the interstitium. These tracer molecules appeared to be blocked by the juxtaluminal tight junction separating adjacent epithelial cells. This latter observation suggests that a blood‐testis barrier exists at the level of the rete testis epithelium. Although physiological studies have indicated that the composition of fluid secreted in the seminiferous epithelium is considerably modified in the rete testis, the present morphological study does not provide additional evidence to support a secretory or absorptive function for this region of the excurrent duct system of the testis.
Longitudinal Relations Between Parenting and Child Adjustment in Young Children

We studied the predictive relations between reports of parenting behavior on the one hand and academic achievement and reported behavior problems of young children on the other hand. Data were gathered for 352 children and their parents from kindergarten to 2nd grade. The results indicated that in the academic domain, low supportive and high controlling parenting practices were modestly related to poor subsequent math achievement. Children's externalizing and attention problem behavior was clearly predictive of high levels of control in mothers and low levels of support in fathers. The combination of high parental support and control was especially associated with high levels of problem behavior. However, when previous parenting and child adjustment were taken into account, the magnitude of the predictive power of parenting for child adjustment, and of child adjustment for parenting, remained limited.
Option Investor Rationality Revisited: The Role of Exercise Boundary Violations

The authors dispute the theory that American call options should not be exercised early. By looking at intraday pricing, they find that the best bid price available is often lower than the option’s intrinsic value and early exercise can be rational. Our empirical results overturn the well-known textbook theory that American options should not be exercised early except in very limited conditions. In the real world, the best bid available in the market is frequently below the option’s intrinsic value (e.g., nearly half of all quotes for in-the- money calls), which we call an “exercise boundary violation” (EBV). In an EBV, early exercise can be the right strategy and the “American” option characteristic has economic value. Some option holders do exercise, some sell at EBV bid prices, and our results suggest that actual exercise behavior is much less irrational than earlier studies concluded. Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest. Editor’s Notes Submitted 26 May 2019 Accepted 4 November 2019 by Stephen J. Brown. This article was externally reviewed using our double-blind peer-review process. When the article was accepted for publication, the authors thanked the reviewers in their acknowledgments. Giuseppe Ballocchi, CFA, and William Fung were the reviewers for this article.
Research institutions: neither doing science communication nor promoting ‘public’ relations

In this commentary I explain why research institutions are neither doing science communication nor developing ‘public’ relations in the proper sense. Their activities are rather a mix of different things, serving various purposes and targets. However, dealing with PCST, their main responsibilities [should] include: promoting genuine communication and dialogue, being open and accessible to the public, providing high quality scientific information, ensuring good internal communication and educating their scientific staff. After more than 20 years spent in communication and PR (Public relations) departments of publicly funded research organisations, I have to say that the question addressed by these commentaries is an interesting one. It is always a healthy exercise to question the very essence of our own work: what are we, as professional communicators, doing? What are we aiming at? Within our respective organisations, what is our main task: are we promoting (mainly) science communication or (mainly) the institution which employs us? I tend to answer: ‘None of these’. Firstly, because to a very large extent research institutions do not promote genuine communication. Real communication (in the sense of a dialogue) is still almost absent in the fields of science. And secondly because research institutions’ PR work hardly involves the real ‘public’. Nevertheless, I tend to agree that we are trying to develop public communication, in addition or in parallel with promoting science relations. Most research institutions target in priority their ‘stakeholders’, which include decision-makers, politicians and the scientific community. The public (and young people in particular) is too far away from their short-term objectives and longterm challenges. Similarly, media is not a target per se, but essentially a means to reach (and hopefully influence) stakeholders and opinion leaders. This leads to the following question: what should research institutions, which are the main producers of scientific knowledge, be doing in the field of public communication/PR? Should they rethink and reorganise their activities? JCOM 13(03)(2014)C03 Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
The Impact of Housing Wealth on Stock Liquidity

We document a housing wealth effect on the stock liquidity of local firms. We first demonstrate that the heterogeneity of homeownership rates across geographical areas can explain variations in the impact that changes in house prices have on local stock liquidity. We then show, consistent with expectations that an increase in housing wealth leads to a reduction in household risk aversion, that the liquidity of lottery stocks and stocks dominated by individual investors rises. We also show that it promotes local liquidity commonality and reduces the proportion of firm-specific information revealed in stock returns.
Evaluation of the Running-Based Anaerobic Sprint Test as a Measure of Repeated Sprint Ability in Collegiate-Level Soccer Players

Abstract Keir, DA, Thériault, F, and Serresse, O. Evaluation of the running-based anaerobic sprint test as a measure of repeated sprint ability in collegiate-level soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 27(6): 1671–1678, 2013—Repeated sprint ability (RSA) refers to an individual's ability to perform maximal sprints of short duration in succession with little recovery between sprints. The running-based anaerobic sprint test (RAST) has been adapted from the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) protocol as a tool to assess RSA and anaerobic power. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between performance variables and physiological responses obtained during the RAST and the WAnT using 8 collegiate-level soccer players. Participants performed a single trial of both the WAnT and the RAST. Breath-by-breath gas exchange was monitored throughout each trial, and blood lactate (BL) measures were recorded postexercise. The oxygen uptake (V[Combining Dot Above]O2) profile suggested that the RAST required greater contributions from aerobic metabolism although there was no difference in V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak (p < 0.05). Peak BL values were also similar between the RAST and the WAnT (p < 0.05). Neither peak physiological values nor performance variables (peak and mean power) were significantly correlated between protocols. The weak association in physiological responses indicates that different combinations of metabolic contributions exist between protocols, suggesting that individual performances on each test are not related in collegiate soccer players. Further studies on these relationships with players of other competitive levels and team sport athletes are warranted.
Phosphate Removal by Peritoneal Dialysis: The Effect of Transporter Status and Peritoneal Dialysis Prescription

♦ Background: Interventional trials failed to demonstrate that increasing urea clearance improved peritoneal dialysis (PD) patient survival. Hyperphosphatemia is a well-recognized predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in PD patients. Simplification of PD small solute clearance targets focuses away from larger solutes, including phosphate. In the US and UK, increasing use of automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) cyclers with shorter dwell times could also potentially reduce peritoneal phosphate removal compared to continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). ♦ Methods: Total phosphate and peritoneal phosphate clearances were measured in a prospective observational cohort of 380 adult PD patients attending a tertiary university hospital between 1996 and 2013 for routine assessment of PD adequacy. ♦ Results: Eighty-seven patients (22.9%) were hyperphosphatemic. Taking the mean 4-hour dialysate to plasma (D/P) ratio for phosphate, 193 (50.8%) were fast and fast-average transporters and 187 (49.2%) were slow and slow-average transporters (compared to 276 [72.6%] and 104 [27.4%], respectively, for peritoneal creatinine transporter status). Faster peritoneal phosphate transporter status was associated with over-hydration (odds ratio [OR] = 2.45 [1.43 – 4.20], p = 0.001). Whereas the 4-hour D/P creatinine and peritoneal weekly creatinine clearance did not differ between those who were hyperphosphatemic or not, the hyperphosphatemic patients had lower 4-hour D/P phosphate and lower peritoneal weekly phosphate clearance (p = 0.019, and p = 0.06 respectively). We found greater peritoneal phosphate clearance for patients choosing CAPD compared to APD, irrespective of the peritoneal phosphate transporter status. ♦ Conclusion: Peritoneal creatinine transporter status and creatinine clearance cannot be used as surrogate markers of peritoneal phosphate transport and clearance. Hyperphosphatemia was more common in PD patients with slower peritoneal transporter status and lower peritoneal phosphate clearance. Greater peritoneal phosphate clearance was achieved with CAPD prescriptions. Slower peritoneal transporters should be advised to choose CAPD to improve serum phosphate control.
Active Surveillance of Vaccine Safety: A System to Detect Early Signs of Adverse Events

Background: There currently are no population-based systems in the United States to rapidly detect adverse events after newly introduced vaccines. To evaluate the feasibility of developing such systems, we used 5 years of data from 4 health maintenance organizations within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vaccine Safety Datalink. Methods: Within every year, each week's vaccinated children were followed for 4 weeks, and rates of adverse events were compared with rates among children of similar ages before the introduction of the new vaccine. We assessed risks for intussusception after rotavirus vaccination and risks for fever, seizures, and other neurologic adverse events after the change from whole cell diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTPw) to acellular DTP vaccine (DTPa). We used sequential probability ratio testing, adjusted for age, sex, calendar time, season, and HMO, and with a stopping value based on the probability of an adverse event under the null hypothesis and under a preset alternative hypothesis. Results: We detected an increase in intussusception after 2589 vaccine doses of rotavirus vaccine, about the same time initial reports of intussusception were made to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System. Decreases in risk for fever, seizures, and other abnormal neurologic events became detectable within 12 weeks, 42 weeks, and 18 months, respectively, after the change from DTPw to DTPa. Conclusions: We conclude that it is feasible to develop systems for rapid and routine population-based assessments of new vaccine safety.