Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sexual health services and education: Young people’s experiences and preferences

Objective To examine young people’s requirements and perceptions of sexual health services and education in the context of their experience of sexual relationships and knowledge of sexual health. Design A questionnaire based cohort study. Setting Three hundred and sixty Year 11 students (aged 15-16 years) surveyed in three Secondary Schools. Method The study received ethical approval from The North Wales Central Ethics Committee. School nurses distributed questionnaires in classroom conditions to all students present on the survey day. Results Eighty-six per cent of the cohort responded. Those young people who reported being sexually active (153, 45 per cent) thought most sexual education topics should be taught around six months earlier than non-sexually active respondents. Of those accessing sexual health services, 90 per cent were happy with the services received, however, only 44 per cent of sexually active males and 76 per cent of sexually active females had sought advice. That clinics had a ‘friendly atmosphere and staff easy to talk to’ ranked highest and ‘only people of your own age using the clinic’ ranked lowest on a list of important features for a sexual health clinic. Conclusion Planners should consult young people and develop services in line with their needs. Sexual health education should be taught earlier in the school curriculum, with flexibility over when some information is accessed. There is little evidence for the assumption upon which much work in this field is based; that most young people prefer a specifically young person’s sexual health clinic.
Gene Variants Associated With Ischemic Stroke: The Cardiovascular Health Study

Background and Purpose— The purpose of this study was to determine whether 74 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which had been associated with coronary heart disease, are associated with incident ischemic stroke. Methods— Based on antecedent studies of coronary heart disease, we prespecified the risk allele for each of the 74 SNPs. We used Cox proportional hazards models that adjusted for traditional risk factors to estimate the associations of these SNPs with incident ischemic stroke during 14 years of follow-up in a population-based study of older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). Results— In white CHS participants, the prespecified risk alleles of 7 of the 74 SNPs (in HPS1, ITGAE, ABCG2, MYH15, FSTL4, CALM1, and BAT2) were nominally associated with increased risk of stroke (one-sided P<0.05, false discovery rate=0.42). In black participants, the prespecified risk alleles of 5 SNPs (in KRT4, LY6G5B, EDG1, DMXL2, and ABCG2) were nominally associated with stroke (one-sided P<0.05, false discovery rate=0.55). The Val12Met SNP in ABCG2 was associated with stroke in both white (hazard ratio, 1.46; 90% CI, 1.05 to 2.03) and black (hazard ratio, 3.59; 90% CI, 1.11 to 11.6) participants of CHS. Kaplan-Meier estimates of the 10-year cumulative incidence of stroke were greater among Val allele homozygotes than among Met allele carriers in both white (10% versus 6%) and black (12% versus 3%) participants of CHS. Conclusions— The Val12Met SNP in ABCG2 (encoding a transporter of sterols and xenobiotics) was associated with incident ischemic stroke in white and black participants of CHS.
Changing Clinicians' Beliefs About Treatment for Children Experiencing Trauma: The Impact of Intensive Training in an Evidence-Based, Trauma-Focused Treatment

The child trauma field has seen a steady change in policy, funding priorities and dissemination efforts toward the implementation of evidence-based treatments (EBTs). Despite this shift, many clinicians remain untrained in these practices, which may speak to both a lack of awareness regarding this shift, and difficulty altering their fundamental beliefs about how therapy should be conducted. The current study sought to examine whether clinicians’ fundamental beliefs regarding a nondirective/unstructured or directive/structured approach to therapy, and children’s abilities to verbally express their trauma, could change after undergoing intensive training in a trauma-focused EBT. Results showed that clinicians receiving intensive training in Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) reported a significant shift toward holding a more structured/directive approach to treatment, and a greater belief that children are capable of verbally describing their traumatic experiences. Clinicians not receiving the training demonstrated no changes in their beliefs. These results are discussed in the context of encouraging greater utilization of EBTs.
miR-200/ZEB axis regulates sensitivity to nintedanib in non-small cell lung cancer cells

Nintedanib (BIBF1120) is a multi-targeted angiokinase inhibitor and has been evaluated in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in clinical studies. In the present study, we evaluated the antitumor effects of nintedanib in 16 NSCLC cell lines and tried to identify microRNA (miRNA) associated with sensitivity to nintedanib. No correlations between FGFR, PDGFR and VEGFR family activation and sensitivity to nintedanib were found. The difference in miRNA expression profiles between 5 nintedanib-sensitive and 5 nintedanib-resistant cell lines was evaluated by miRNA array and quantitative RT-PCR analysis (qRT-PCR). Expression of miR-200b, miR-200a and miR-141 belonging to the miR-200 family which contributes to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), was significantly lower in 5 nintedanib-resistant than in 5 nintedanib-sensitive cell lines. We examined the protein expression of EMT markers in these 10 NSCLC cell lines. E-cadherin expression was lower, and vimentin and ZEB1 expression were higher in 5 nintedanib-resistant cell lines. PC-1 was the most sensitive of the NSCLC cell lines to nintedanib. We established nintedanib-resistant PC-1 cells (PC-1R) by the stepwise method. PC-1R cells also showed decreased expression of miR-200b, miR-141 and miR-429 and increased expression of ZEB1 and ZEB2. We confirmed that induction of miR-200b or miR-141 enhanced sensitivity to nintedanib in nintedanib-resistant A549 and PC1-R cells. In addition, we evaluated the response to gefitinib in combination with nintedanib after TGF-β1 exposure of A549 cells. Nintedanib was able to reverse TGF-β1-induced EMT and resistance to gefitinib caused by miR-200b and miR-141 upregulation and ZEB1 downregulation. These results suggested that the miR-200/ZEB axis might be predictive biomarkers for sensitivity to nintedanib in NSCLC cells. Furthermore, nintedanib combined with gefitinib might be a novel therapeutic strategy for NSCLC cells with EMT phenotype and resistance to gefitinib.
Prognostic Implications of Magnetic Resonance–Derived Quantification in Asymptomatic Patients With Organic Mitral Regurgitation: Comparison With Doppler Echocardiography–Derived Integrative Approach

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an accurate method for the quantitative assessment of organic mitral regurgitation (OMR). The aim of the present study was to compare the discriminative power of MRI quantification and the recommended Doppler echocardiography (ECHO)–derived integrative approach to identify asymptomatic patients with OMR and adverse outcome. Methods: The study population consisted of 258 asymptomatic patients (63±14 years, 60% men) with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (>60%) and chronic moderate and severe OMR (flail 25%, prolapse 75%) defined by using the ECHO-derived integrative approach. All patients underwent MRI to quantify regurgitant volume (RV) of OMR by subtracting the aortic forward flow volume from the total left ventricular stroke volume. Severe OMR was defined as RV≥60 mL. Results: Mean ECHO-derived RV was on average 17.1 mL larger than the MRI-derived RV (P<0.05). Concordant grading of OMR severity with both techniques was observed in 197 (76%) individuals with 62 (31%) patients having severe OMR (MRI SEV-ECHO SEV) and 135 (69%) patients having moderate OMR (MRI MOD-ECHO MOD). The remaining 61 (24%) individuals had discordant findings (MRI SEV-ECHO MOD or MRI MOD-ECHO SEV) between the 2 techniques. The majority of these differences in OMR classification were observed in patients with late systolic or multiple jets (both &kgr;<0.2). Patients with eccentric jets showed moderate agreement (&kgr;=0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.41–0.64). In contrast, a very good agreement (&kgr;=0.90; 95% confidence interval, 0.82–0.98) was observed in a combination of holosystolic, central, and single jet. During a median follow-up of 5.0 years (interquartile range, 3.5–6.0 years), 38 (15%) patients died and 106 (41%) either died or developed indication for mitral valve surgery. In separate Cox regression analyses, the MRI-derived left ventricular end-systolic volume index, RV, and OMR category (severe versus moderate), and the ECHO-derived OMR category were independent predictors of all-cause mortality (all P<0.05). The MRI-derived RV showed the largest area under the curve to predict mortality (0.72) or its combination with the development of indication for mitral valve surgery (0.83). Conclusions: The findings of the present study suggest that the MRI-derived assessment of OMR can better identify patients with severe OMR and adverse outcome than ECHO-derived integrative approach warranting close follow-up and perhaps, early mitral valve surgery.
Bariatric surgery performance: A predictive informatics case study

The systematic collection and organization of routine medical care data, together with data mining techniques, offer a rich environment for valuable, large-scale observational studies. We report on one such study in the context of bariatric surgery, where we build predictive models for surgical procedure selection and overall success of surgery. We suggest that observational studies supported by predictive informatics may usefully complement classical clinical trials in medical research.
Older Women and the Practice of Breast Self-Examination

Breast self-examination (BSE) for breast cancer is used by only a fraction of the women who might benefit from it, and some studies show that older women who are more at risk for breast cancer are less likely to use it. This article reports a community study of women (n = 528) who were trained in BSE in women's group meetings, provided a behavioral management intervention, and followed for two years. The intervention consisted of monthly postcard cues for BSE and lottery ticket rewards whenever a BSE record was returned indicating a BSE had been done. During the second year, the intervention was withdrawn. Results show that although women over 50 are no more likely to report having done more BSEs than women under 50 prior to entering the study, they did tend to do more BSEs during the intervention year and were significantly more compliant during the follow-up year. A more detailed analysis by age decade showed the highest rates of compliance in both years were for women ages 60–69 and 70–87. An analysis of attitudinal, history, and sociodemographic factors indicated that the only consistent predictor of BSE practice other than age and the intervention was the woman's confidence in BSE.
Lilies at the limit: Variation in plant-pollinator interactions across an elevational range.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Many studies assume climatic factors are paramount in determining species' distributions, however, biotic interactions may also play a role. For example, pollinators may limit species' ranges if floral abundance or floral attractiveness is reduced at range margins, thus causing lower pollinator visitation and reduced reproductive output. METHODS To test if pollinators influence the altitudinal distribution of Erythronium montanum (Liliaceae) at Mount Rainier National Park, we asked whether (1) seed production in this species relies on pollinators, (2) seed production and pollen limitation is greatest at range limits, and (3) pollinator visitation rates (either overall or by individual taxonomic groups) reflect patterns of seed production and pollen limitation. RESULTS From this three-year study, we established that this plant does rely on pollinators for fruit set and we found that pollen limitation trended toward being higher at the upper range limit in some years, but not consistently year to year. Insect visitation rates did not mirror spatial patterns of pollen limitation, but annually variable pollinator composition suggested differential importance of some pollinator taxonomic groups (specifically, bumblebees may be better pollinators than syrphid flies). CONCLUSIONS Overall, these results suggest that while pollinators are critical for the reproductive success of this high mountain wildflower, plant-pollinator interactions do not obviously drive the distribution of this species. Nonetheless, high spatio-temporal variability in range-wide plant-pollinator dynamics may complicate responses to climate change.
SELENIUM AND GLUTATHIONE PEROXIDASE DEFICIENCY IN EPILEPTIC CHILDREN

Objective: To cease the increasing damage to the brain neurons following epileptic seizures, natural anti-oxidative systems play the main role. One of the most important detoxifying systems is composed of the trace element selenium and its dependent detoxifying enzyme, glutathione peroxidase. The object of this study was to evaluate serum selenium and red blood cell glutathione peroxidase activity in pediatric epileptics and compare it with that of healthy children. Material & Methods: Patients suffering from various types of epilepsy were studied during a 15- month period. Control group consisted of healthy children with no history of any neurologic disease. Serum selenium level and RBC Glutathione peroxidase activity was evaluated and the results compared. Findings: Fifty three epileptic patients with a mean age of 5.5 years and 57 healthy children with a mean age of 5.6 years were enrolled in this study. Statistically significant differences in the mean values for serum selenium level (72.9 vs. 86.0 ng/ml, P=0.017) and also RBC glutathione peroxidase activity (440.6 vs. 801.0 nmol/min/ml, P=0.000) between the two groups were observed. On the other hand, after analyzing the study results, trying to introduce a value for GPx activity, which could be accepted as a reliable indicator for serum selenium deficiency in patients, was not successful. Conclusion: Findings of the present study strongly support the proposed crucial role for the trace element selenium and deficiency of its dependent enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, in epilepsy pathogenesis.
Identifying Evidence-Based Work on Mental Health Promotion in Schools in Europe: An Interim Report on the DataPrev Project

This paper is an interim report on the Schools element of the DataPrev project, one element of a wider project funded by the European Union which aims to increase the understanding and knowledge across Europe of evidence-based mental health promotion policy and practice by creating a database of mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention programmes, and producing policy and practice guidelines. The Schools element of the project involves a search for both universal and targeted school-based programmes in Europe which can be shown by robust criteria to have the likelihood of promoting mental health in schools, and attempts to identify the principles that support effective programmes. It includes a systematic search for existing reviews, using over 80 search terms to reflect the range of terminology used in the field across disciplinary and geographical boundaries. To date (about halfway through the process) over 40 recent good systematic reviews have been identified, from which 16 successful evidence-based school mental health interventions have been identified. Most of these originate in the United States (US), some come from Australia and some from Europe itself. The key features of effective programmes so far identified include operating on several fronts at once (‘whole school’), developing skills in students and staff, involving learners, balancing universal and targeted approaches, and consistent implementation over a long period of time.
Privacy preserving auctions and mechanism design

We suggest an architecture for executing protocols for auctions and, more generally, mechanism design. Our goal is to preserve the privacy of the inputs of the participants (so that no nonessential information about them is divulged, even a posteriori) while maintaining communication and computational e(cid:14)ciency. We achieve this goal by adding another party - the auction issuer - that generates the programs for computing the auctions but does not take an active part in the protocol. The auction issuer is not a trusted party, but is assumed not to collude with the auctioneer. In the case of auctions, barring collusion between the auctioneer and the auction issuer, neither party gains any information about the bids, even after the auction is over. Moreover, bidders can verify that the auction was performed correctly. The protocols do not require any communication between the bidders and the auction issuer and the computational e(cid:14)ciency is very reasonable. This architecture can be used to implement any mechanism design where the important factor is the complexity of the decision procedure.
The impact of free access to the scientific literature: a review of recent research.

OBJECTIVES The paper reviews recent studies that evaluate the impact of free access (open access) on the behavior of scientists as authors, readers, and citers in developed and developing nations. It also examines the extent to which the biomedical literature is used by the general public. METHOD The paper is a critical review of the literature, with systematic description of key studies. RESULTS Researchers report that their access to the scientific literature is generally good and improving. For authors, the access status of a journal is not an important consideration when deciding where to publish. There is clear evidence that free access increases the number of article downloads, although its impact on article citations is not clear. Recent studies indicate that large citation advantages are simply artifacts of the failure to adequately control for confounding variables. The effect of free access on the general public's use of the primary medical literature has not been thoroughly evaluated. CONCLUSIONS Recent studies provide little evidence to support the idea that there is a crisis in access to the scholarly literature. Further research is needed to investigate whether free access is making a difference in non-research contexts and to better understand the dissemination of scientific literature through peer-to-peer networks and other informal mechanisms.
Interferon-γ and Interleukin-10 Gene Polymorphisms in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Several genes coding for different cytokines may affect host susceptibility to tuberculosis. This study investigates the relationship of the single base change polymorphic variants identified in the first intron of interferon-γ (+874 T/A) and in the promoter region of interleukin-10 gene (−1,082 G/A), with cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells and tuberculosis susceptibility. We studied a Spanish population of 113 patients with culture-proven pulmonary tuberculosis, 207 healthy close contacts (125 tuberculin reactive and 82 tuberculin negative), and 100 healthy tuberculin-negative control subjects. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that individuals homozygous for the interferon-γ (+874) A allele had a 3.75-fold increased risk of developing tuberculosis (95% confidence interval, 2.26–6.23, p = 0.0017). Stimulated production of interferon-γ by peripheral mononuclear cells from patients with genotype AA was depressed compared with that of non-AA homozygotes at the time of diagn.
A survey of DNA variation of C2ORF71 in probands with progressive autosomal recessive retinal degeneration and controls.

PURPOSE Mutations of C2ORF71 have recently been reported to be associated with autosomal recessive (AR) retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in humans and with visual defects in zebrafish. C2ORF71 is located on 2p23.2 and encodes a 1288-amino-acid protein of unknown function, predominately expressed in the photoreceptors. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of mutations in C2ORF71 in a cohort of probands with AR retinal degeneration and to detect coding sequence variation in controls. METHODS A combination of high-resolution DNA melting (HRM) analysis and automated DNA sequencing was used to screen for C2ORF71 in 286 affected unrelated individuals. Among them, 95 subjects had Leber congenital amaurosis, and 191 had AR RP. In a similar fashion, 151 European and 40 South Asian control DNAs were screened. RESULTS Overall, 40 DNA sequence variants were detected, with 17 novel polymorphisms found in the control subjects (8 missense, 7 synonymous, and 2 other). Importantly, 11 novel sequence variants (6 missense and 5 synonymous) in 20 alleles were detected in the cohort of patients but not in the controls. Only one proband was a compound heterozygote but segregation analysis revealed her unaffected father to be homozygous for one of the putative mutations. CONCLUSIONS C2ORF71 is a highly polymorphic gene (average heterozygosity of coding region in controls: 2.118 × 10(-3)) with many rare variants that confound mutation detection. Further analysis will determine the spectrum of retinal disease caused by mutations in C2ORF71 and distinguish true pathogenic alleles from the high background of polymorphism elucidating the role of this rare cause of RP in the visual process.
Electrophysiological Evidence for Two Steps in Syntactic Analysis: Early Automatic and Late Controlled Processes

In this study we examined the properties of the processes involved in the structural analysis of sentences using event-related brain potential measures (ERP). Previous research had shown two ERP components to correlate with phrase structure violations: an early left anterior negativity (ELAN), which is assumed to reflect first-pass parsing processes, and a late parietally distributed positivity (P600), assumed to reflect second-pass parsing processes. We hypothesized that the first-pass parsing processes are highly automatic, whereas second-pass parsing processes are more controlled. To test this hypothesis we varied the proportion of correct sentences and sentences containing phrase structure violations with incorrect sentences being either of a low (20 violation) or a high (80 violation) proportion. Results showed that the early left anterior negativity was elicited and equally pronounced under both proportion conditions. By contrast, the late positivity was elicited for a low proportion of incorrect sentences only. This data pattern suggests that first-pass parsing processes are automatic, whereas second-pass parsing processes are under participants' strategic control.