Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors perceived by employees regarding their sick leave due to depression

Abstract Purpose: Depression is a leading factor of work disability throughout the world. However, a paucity of studies investigated factors related to the development of depression in the workplace prior to sick leave. This qualitative study aims to describe the factors related to the onset of depression at work prior to sick leave. Method: This study followed a descriptive interpretive design. Interviews were conducted with 22 individuals (15 women) who experienced depression while they were employed within an organization. The verbatim transcripts were coded using QDA-Miner software. Results: Participants (n = 22) reported that their depression was partially or completely related to their work. From the analysis of all 22 participants’ interviews transcripts, three major themes emerged: (1) work-related psychosocial risk factors (e.g. factors related to supervisors’ attitudes and behaviors), (2) the individual’s experience in employment (e.g. reactions to symptoms) and (3) the period preceding the sick leave of individuals who experienced depression (e.g. communication with the supervisor). Conclusions: These results support the importance of preventive intervention oriented toward decreasing psychosocial risks within organizations, and detecting workers at risk. Future studies should focus on factors that might influence individuals in their decision to reveal or not their difficulties to their supervisors. Implications for Rehabilitation The conditions in which employees were working before they started their leave of absence should be identified; notably (1) relationships with organizational stakeholders (e.g. immediate supervisor, colleagues) and (2) psychosocial risk factors (e.g. work overload, over-commitment). A good relationship between the immediate supervisor and the employee is an important factor to prevent sick leave due to depression. The supervisors should be informed quickly after the first appearance of depressive symptoms in employees in order to implement feasible and appropriate accommodations as soon as possible.
Tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase inhibitor: analysis of malignancies across the rheumatoid arthritis clinical development programme

Objectives Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To further assess the potential role of Janus kinase inhibition in the development of malignancies, we performed an integrated analysis of data from the tofacitinib RA clinical development programme. Methods Malignancy data (up to 10 April 2013) were pooled from six phase II, six Phase III and two long-term extension (LTE) studies involving tofacitinib. In the phase II and III studies, patients with moderate-to-severe RA were randomised to various tofacitinib doses as monotherapy or with background non-biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), mainly methotrexate. The LTE studies (tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg twice daily) enrolled patients from qualifying prior phase I, II and III index studies. Results Of 5671 tofacitinib-treated patients, 107 developed malignancies (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC)). The most common malignancy was lung cancer (n=24) followed by breast cancer (n=19), lymphoma (n=10) and gastric cancer (n=6). The rate of malignancies by 6-month intervals of tofacitinib exposure indicates rates remained stable over time. Standardised incidence ratios (comparison with Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) for all malignancies (excluding NMSC) and selected malignancies (lung, breast, lymphoma, NMSC) were within the expected range of patients with moderate-to-severe RA. Conclusions The overall rates and types of malignancies observed in the tofacitinib clinical programme remained stable over time with increasing tofacitinib exposure.
The Value of Improved Air Quality in Santiago de Chile

Environmental awareness among individuals has undoubtedly increased during the last decades, which can be clearly observed through individual behaviour. In spite of this, the benefits that environmental improvements bring about are seldom taken into account in economic analysis. This is mainly because of the difficulty faced when valuing intangible goods. This chapter provides an overview of the economic theory of welfare and environmental valuation. Furthermore, an introduction to two of the valuation methods most frequently used for environmental valuation namely, the contingent valuation method (CVM) and the hedonic pricing method (HPM) is presented. 2.1 Welfare Economics and Environmental Valuation According to the tenets of welfare economics, the welfare of a society depends on the welfare (utility) of the individuals comprising the society; see for instance Boadway and Bruce (1993). Although aggregating poses numerous problems it is very important to be able to measure individual utility changes. In contrast to market goods, non-market goods are not easily valued and therefore the measurement of any welfare change becomes much more complicated. There is not one single and unique measure that is correct. However, it is possible to get some estimate (using information from stated preferences or actual behaviour) of the value individuals place on this type of commodity. Thus, the value of welfare changes due to changes in the provision of environmental goods, can be expressed in terms of traditional welfare measures such as, compensating variation (CV), compensating surplus (CS), equivalent variation (EV) and equivalent surplus (ES); see Hanley and Spash (1993).
Trade Shocks and Labour Adjustment: Evidence from Pakistan’s Manufacturing Industries

The present study is an attempt to explore the impact of trade liberalisation on employment and wages of production and non-production workers in large scale manufacturing industries of Pakistan. We use a sample of 18 industrial establishments with a time series data covering a period 1970-71 to 2005-06. In order to account for endogeniety problem, this study uses the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM). The study comes up with the findings that trade liberalisation has significantly negative impact on employment of both production and non-production workers. On the other hand, trade liberalisation has a significantly positive impact on wages of production workers, but it has no significant impact on wages of non-production workers. The negative impact of trade is attributed to the high protection given to most of the inefficient industries in the post liberalisation period. On the other hand, reduction in non-production worker employment is not unexpected as in case of developing country like Pakistan, trade liberalisation is supposed to displace capital intensive industries that employ most of the non-production (skilled) workers.
High Structural Quality of Type II InAs/GaSb Superlattices for Very Long Wavelength Infrared Detection by Interface Control

We investigate the interface control for very long wavelength infrared InAs/GaSb superlattice (SL) structures. An InAs/GaSb SL photodetector with very high structural quality has been demonstrated by precisely controlling the Sb-soak, the growth stop time and the InSb layer thickness at the interfaces. The full width at half maximum of the X-ray diffraction satellite peaks of a p-i-n device structure is only 21 arcsec. The 50% cutoff wavelength of the detector is 14.5 μm at 77 K. At 14.5 μm, the quantum efficiency is 14%, while at the photoresponse maximum position of 7.7 μm it is 50%.
Gender differences in treatment outcomes among 15-49 year olds with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis in Kenya.

OBJECTIVE To determine gender differences in treatment outcomes among 15-49 year olds with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and factors associated with poor outcomes in Kenya. DESIGN Retrospective descriptive cohort. RESULTS Of 16 056 subjects analysed, 38% were female and 62% male. Females had a higher risk of poor treatment outcome than males (12% vs. 10%, P < 0.001; adjusted OR 1.29, 95%CI 1.16-1.44, P < 0.001). In the first multivariate model, restricting the analysis to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients and adjusting for risk factors and clustering, females had a non-significantly lower risk of poor outcome (OR 0.99, 95%CI 0.86-1.13, P = 0.844). In the model restricted to HIV-negative patients, a non-significantly lower risk was found (OR 0.89, 95%CI 0.73-1.09, P = 0.267). In the second model, restricting analysis to patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and adjusting for risk factors and clustering, females had a non-significantly lower risk of poor PTB treatment outcomes (OR 0.98, 95%CI 0.84-1.14, P = 0.792). In the model restricted to HIV-positive patients not on ART, a non-significantly higher risk was found (OR 1.15, 95%CI 0.79-1.67, P = 0.461). CONCLUSION Females of reproductive age are likely to have poorer treatment outcomes than males. Among females, not commencing ART during anti-tuberculosis treatment seemed to be associated with poor outcomes.
An Inquiry into the Causes of Inflation in Sri Lanka: An Eclectic Approach

The objective of this study is to identify the short and long-run determinants of inflation in Sri Lanka. It follows an eclectic approach to seeking possible determinants of inflation and employs an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to test for co integration between inflation and its causes. The findings indicate that increased money supply, depreciation of the rupee and higher public wages are the major causes of inflation in both the short and long-run. Thus, it can be stated that inflation in Sri Lanka is affected by both demand and supply side factors, which highlights the importance of a prudent and effective implementation of the monetary and fiscal policies so as to ensure a stable macroeconomic environment in Sri Lanka.
Correlates of physical activity in young American Indian children: lessons learned from the Wisconsin Nutrition and Growth Study.

BACKGROUND Obesity is a serious and growing health problem in American Indian (AI) children. Our study, the Wisconsin Nutrition and Growth Study, aimed to understand the prevalence and contributing factors to pediatric obesity in Wisconsin tribes and provide the foundation for intervention design. OBJECTIVE This article focuses on associations among age, gender, and 3 measures of weight status with proxy-reported physical activity and TV/screen time in 3 to 8 year-old AI children. DESIGN/METHODS In a cross-sectional design, 581 AI children (49.1% female, aged 3-8 years) participated in health screenings that included height, weight, waist circumference, percent body fat, and a caregiver survey on demographics and health, with questions on physical activity and TV/screen time. RESULTS Forty-five percent of children were overweight or obese. Boys were significantly more obese and had higher levels of body fat than girls. There were no differences in weight category across age groups. Boys participated in significantly more weekly sports than girls and sports participation was somewhat higher in younger children. Body mass index and waist circumference were not significantly correlated with TV/screen time or with the 3 activity measures (sports participation, outdoor play time, or physical education classes). Hours of outdoor play significantly predicted child body fat percentage controlling for maternal body mass index and child age and gender. CONCLUSIONS Young AI children in Wisconsin have high rates of overweight/obesity starting at a very early age, and outdoor play may play a significant role in mediating body fat. There is a need to develop obesity-prevention interventions at early ages.
Type 2 diabetic patients have increased gluconeogenic efficiency to substrate availability, but intact autoregulation of endogenous glucose production

Objective. An autoregulatory mechanism involving a reciprocal relationship between gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis regulates endogenous glucose production (EGP) in healthy individuals. In type 2 diabetes, fasting hyperglycemia may be due to increased EGP. Material and methods. To examine gluconeogenesis and autoregulation of EGP in type 2 diabetes, 9 type 2 diabetics and 8 healthy controls were studied during a 3‐h infusion of 30 µmol/kg/min Na‐lactate. The diabetics were also studied during a control infusion of Na‐bicarbonate. To standardize levels of glucoregulatory hormones, plasma insulin, growth hormone, and glucagon were clamped at identical levels during the three experiments. Glucagon levels were elevated from basal levels to ∼330 ng/l when the lactate or bicarbonate infusions were started, in order to mimic the hyperglucagonemia often seen in diabetes. Lactate gluconeogenesis and total EGP were measured by infusions of [6‐3H] glucose and [U‐14C] lactate. Results. In the bicarbonate experiments, hyperglugagonemia increased lactate gluconeogenesis in the diabetic patients from 4.3±1.8 to 6.1±2.4 µmol/kg/min (p = 0.04). EGP did not change significantly (basal EGP: 15.3±3.9, EGP at the end of the study: 14.2±3.9 µmol/kg/min, p = 0.14). During both lactate experiments, plasma lactate increased more than 4‐fold. The increase in lactate gluconeogenesis was significantly higher in diabetics than in controls (values obtained at the end of experiments minus basal values: 10.8±3.6 versus 6.4±3.6 µmol/kg/min, p = 0.03). Compared with normal subjects, the diabetic patients had higher EGP values both at basal conditions (p = 0.001) and during lactate infusion (p = 0.005). Despite augmented gluconeogenesis, EGP did not change during lactate and glucagon infusion in any of the groups (diabetics, basal EGP: 15.4±2.7 versus EGP at the end of experiments: 15.6±3.6 µmol/kg/min, p>0.30. Controls, basal EGP: 11.8±0.8 versus EGP at the end of experiments: 11.6±1.9 µmol/kg/min, p>0.30). Conclusions. Althought type 2 diabetics have increased EGP and increased lactate gluconeogenesis, the hepatic autoregulation of EGP during increased substrate‐induced gluconeogenesis seems to be intact.
Comparison of lipopolysaccharides from Agmenellum quadruplicatum to Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium by using thin-layer chromatography

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was isolated from the unicellular blue-green bacterium Agmenellum quadruplicatum using the procedure of Westphal and Jann (1965). It was composed of a lipid A and polysaccharide region suggesting a similarity to other gram-negative LPSs. Chemical analyses demonstrated the presence of glucose, rhamnose, mannose, and xylose in the polysaccharide region, as well as 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate, glucosamine, and phosphorous in the lipid A. Studies on the lipid composition revealed the presence of palmitic, behenic, and three beta-hydroxy fatty acids. A new procedure for thin-layer chromatography of bacterial LPSs was used to compare LPS from A. quadruplicatum to other gram-negative organisms. The method is capable of distinguishing between LPSs of different bacteria as well as between the wild-type organism and mutated forms unable to synthesize complete LPS. A comparison of LPS from A. quadruplicatum to Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium demonstrated that, although the blue-green LPS was rather similar to that of the Enterobacteriaceae, distinct differences also existed. However, when several cell division mutants of A. quadruplicatum were compared chromatographically to the parent strain BG-1, no differences were observed. This suggests that cell division mutations in A. quadruplicatum are not associated with changes in the LPS.
Increases in callus formation and mechanical strength of healing fractures in old rats treated with parathyroid hormone

We studied the effects of intermittent administration of parathyroid hormone (PTH(1-34)) on callus formation and mechanical strength of tibial fractures in 27-month-old rats after 3 and 8 weeks of healing. 200 w g PTH(1-34)/kg was administered daily during both periods of healing, and control animals with fractures were given vehicle. At 3 weeks, PTH treatment increased maximum load and external callus volume by 160% and 208%; at 8 weeks, by 270% and 135%. It also enhanced callus bone mineral content (BMC) by 190% and 388% (3 and 8 weeks). From week 3 to week 8, callus BMC increased by 60% in the vehicle-injected animals, and by 169% in the PTH-treated animals. In the contralateral intact tibia, PTH treatment increased BMC by 18% and 21% (3 and 8 weeks). No differences in body weight were found between the vehicle-injected and the PTH-treated animals during the experiment. In conclusion, PTH treatment enhances fracture strength, callus volume and callus BMC after 3 and 8 weeks of healing.
Metabolic Abnormalities and New‐Onset Seizures in Human Immunodeficiency Virus‐Seropositive Patients

Summary Seizures are a recognized complication of human immunodeficiency virus (H1V)‐type‐1 infection. CNS disease processes in these patients include encephalitis, focal brain lesions, and meningitis. Metabolic causes of seizures have received little attention. In a retrospective study, we selected 68 HIV‐seropositive patients with new‐onset seizures and information available for specified metabolic factors on the day of the first seizure. We sought an association of metabolic abnormalities with convulsive status epilepticus (CSE), which was the initial seizure in 12 patients, predominantly intravenous (i.v.) drug users. HIV‐seropositive patients with new‐onset seizures and hypomagnesemia or renal failure appeared to be at increased risk for CSE. All HIVseropositive patients with new‐onset seizures should undergo metabolic screening including renal function and serum magnesium levels.
A Probabilistic Quality Representation Approach to Deep Blind Image Quality Prediction

Blind image quality assessment (BIQA) remains a very challenging problem due to the unavailability of a reference image. Deep learning based BIQA methods have been attracting increasing attention in recent years, yet it remains a difficult task to train a robust deep BIQA model because of the very limited number of training samples with human subjective scores. Most existing methods learn a regression network to minimize the prediction error of a scalar image quality score. However, such a scheme ignores the fact that an image will receive divergent subjective scores from different subjects, which cannot be adequately represented by a single scalar number. This is particularly true on complex, real-world distorted images. Moreover, images may broadly differ in their distributions of assigned subjective scores. Recognizing this, we propose a new representation of perceptual image quality, called probabilistic quality representation (PQR), to describe the image subjective score distribution, whereby a more robust loss function can be employed to train a deep BIQA model. The proposed PQR method is shown to not only speed up the convergence of deep model training, but to also greatly improve the achievable level of quality prediction accuracy relative to scalar quality score regression methods. The source code is available at this https URL.
Confronting Inadvertent Stigma and Pejorative Language in Addiction Scholarship: A Recognition and Response

Appropriate use of language in the field of addiction is important. Inappropriate use of language can negatively impact the way society perceives substance use and the people who are affected by it. Language frames what the public thinks about substance use and recovery, and it can also affect how individuals think about themselves and their own ability to change. But most importantly, language intentionally and unintentionally propagates stigma: the mark of dishonor, disgrace, and difference that depersonalizes people, depriving them of individual or personal qualities and personal identity. Stigma is harmful, distressing, and marginalizing to the individuals, groups, and populations who bear it. For these reasons, the Editorial Team of Substance Abuse seeks to formally operationalize respect for personhood in our mission, our public relations, and our instructions to authors. We ask authors, reviewers, and readers to carefully and intentionally consider the language used to describe alcohol and other drug use and disorders, the individuals affected by these conditions, and their related behaviors, comorbidities, treatment, and recovery in our publication. Specifically, we make an appeal for the use of language that (1) respects the worth and dignity of all persons (“people-first language”); (2) focuses on the medical nature of substance use disorders and treatment; (3) promotes the recovery process; and (4) avoids perpetuating negative stereotypes and biases through the use of slang and idioms. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of each of the above principles, along with examples, as well as some of the nuances and tensions that inherently arise as we give greater attention to the issue of how we talk and write about substance use and addiction.
Further Structural and Antigenic Studies of Light‐chain Amyloid Proteins

The major subunit protein of amyloid fibrils (758) isolated from a patient with systemic amyloidosis and studied by N‐terminal amino acid sequence analysis was found to be almost identical to the sequence of a VλIV Bence‐Jones protein and a previously described AλIV amyloid protein. The two AλIV amyloid proteins showed strong antigenic cross‐reaction, appearing as antigenic identity in double immunodiffusion tests using anti‐AλlV antiserum raised against one or the other of the two proteins. In addition, another new AλV amyloid fibril protein (R.S.) showed strong amino acid sequence homology and antigenic identity in double immunodiffusions with the prototype of the AλV subgroup (the AR protein). Finally, 20 primary or myeloma‐associated amyloid proteins were characterized using antisera against the AA and several Ig light‐chain‐derived amyloid proteins.
The birth of a specialty: the first ten thousand patients of an old age psychiatry service

Background: Old age psychiatry as a clinical specialty emerged in the 1970s and modern, open-access multidisciplinary services started in the mid-1980s in South London. There are few accounts of referrals to old age psychiatry services and no quantitative accounts of the referral patterns to such teams. We report on the first 10,000 patients newly referred to the first such service in the world. Methods: Observational study on routinely gathered data on age, gender, referral source, discipline of team member involved, diagnosis and duration of contact. Data validation was by iterative feedback to clinicians. Results: Ten thousand patients were referred between December 1983 and March 2000. Missing data rates were low. The overall referral rate was 21.0 per 1000 population over 65 per annum, with the highest rate in those 85+ years old, in whom there was a marked rise over time. The rise in referral rate compensated for a decline in the population over 65 so that the numbers of referrals rose. Although there was a rise in the rate of referral of people with an organic diagnosis over time, this was not statistically significant. Organic patients constituted 50–60% of referrals but had shorter contact times than functional ones. Cause for concern included a low rate of referral from care homes, and a high proportion of possibly inappropriate referrals from medical and general psychiatry services. We were pleased to see no excess of such referrals from open-access sources, confirming earlier work. Conclusions: Descriptive data on referrals and workload of the first open-access multidisciplinary old age psychiatry service have generated cause for both celebration and concern.