Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A study of pathophysiological factors associated with gastro‐esophageal reflux disease in twins discordant for gastro‐esophageal reflux symptoms

Differences in lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and peristaltic function and in transient LES relaxations (TLESR) have been described in patients with gastro‐esophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, some of these differences may be the result of chronic GERD rather than being an underlying contributory factor.
Malnutrition in Women

Abstract Malnutrition results from imbalance between the needs of the body’s and the intake of nutrients. In India, gender inequality in nutrition is present from infancy to adulthood. Women never reach their full growth potential due to nutritional deprivation. Malnutrition in women is related to poverty, lack of development, lack of awareness and illiteracy. In the present study, percentage wise malnourished females are 25.2% as compared to males (20.2%). A wide variety of development actions are needed to improve their food security and nutrition of women.
In Defense of Pay-as-Bid Auctions: A Divisible-Good Perspective

Pay-as-bid auctions are commonly used to sell treasury securities, purchase government debt, distribute electrical generation, and allocate emissions credits. In spite of the practical relevance of the format, the pay-as-bid auction is a fundamentally misunderstood object. As compared to other popular auction formats used in the sale of homogeneous goods, the pay-as-bid auction is often incorrectly assumed to have comparatively bad incentive properties and to induce suboptimal outcomes. In this dissertation I model the pay-as-bid auction as a set of strategic bidders competing for units of a perfectly-divisible commodity. This model allows surprisingly tractable representations of bidder behavior, which provide novel evidence uniformly in favor of the pay-as-bid auction format.Chapters 2 and 3 consider the theoretical implications of this model for existing empirical work. I demonstrate that when bidders have private information, equilibrium behavior is well-defined and there is an equilibrium in pure strategies. I additionally show that, through a process I call strategic ironing, bidders face strong incentives to submit bids substantially below their true values. The nature of these incentives implies that previous intuition---the pay-as-bid auction is strategically similar to a single-unit first-price auction---is ill-founded. Although strategic ironing is shown to dramatically reduce equilibrium bids below an intuitive benchmark, the current misunderstanding of the properties of the auction format may perversely imply that the pay-as-bid format generates comparatively higher revenues than has been inferred.Chapters 4 and 5 engage in a direct comparative investigation of the pay-as-bid format when bidders have no private information. I obtain results on the existence and uniqueness of equilibria in this setting, and show that optimally-parameterized auction formats are revenue equivalent. When the auctions are nonoptimally parameterized, I demonstrate that the pay-as-bid auction revenue-dominates alternate formats. I show computationally that this dominance continues to hold within a broader class of randomized mechanisms. The computational results suggest large-market revenue equivalence within this class.The findings in this dissertation emphatically support the implementation of the pay-as-bid mechanism. It is well-behaved, potentially tractable, and smoothly revenue-dominant when compared to alternate auction formats.
Living Positively

Living with an incurable illness such as HIV/AIDS is a stressful experience. However, many HIV-positive individuals are able to maintain their emotional well-being. This begs the question of what strategies these individuals employ to allow them to do so. In this article, we examine how Thai women living with HIV/AIDS learned about their health status, what feelings they had, and how they dealt with the illness. In-depth interviews were conducted with 26 women in central Thailand. The women adopted several strategies to deal with their HIV status, including taking care of themselves, accepting their own faith, disclosing their HIV status to family, and joining AIDS support groups. These strategies can be situated within the “living positively” discourse, which helped to create a sense of optimism to combat the HIV epidemic among the women. Additionally, the acceptance of their HIV status played an essential role in the meaning-making process because it assisted the women in sustaining the equilibrium of their emotional well-being.
Evaluation on the Practice and Behaviour of Women Applied for Gynecology Outpatient Clinics About Screening Methods for Early Diagnosis of Breast Cancer.

OBJECTIVE Breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast exam (CBE), mammography and ultrasound imaging (UI) are screening methods used for early diagnosis of breast cancer (BC). The purpose of this study is to put forth the utilization frequency of these screening methods among women presenting to the gynecology outpatient clinics and the relation of these data with the socio-demographic characteristics of the women. MATERIALS AND METHODS A survey was conducted among 429 women (age, 16-80 years) who were admitted to the gynecology outpatient clinics. The survey inquired about the rate and frequency of the performance of BSE, CBE, mammography and UI; personal and family history of breast cancer and social-demographic characteristics of the women. RESULTS The mean age was 40.08 (SD: 3.67). More than half of the women above 40 years of age (59.7 %) had never undergone mammography. 99.8 % of the women who had undergone mammography had also received ultrasound imaging. A significant relationship was identified between the BSE performance and having mammography. 57.4% of the women above 40 years of age (117) had UI, 53.9% (110) had CBE and 57.3% (117) performed BSE. There was a significant relationship between the age, education status and regular BSE; positive family history of BC and having CBE and mammography. CONCLUSION The results reveal that the rate of BSE performance, having mammography and CBE are at less-than-ideal levels. In this context, it is apparent that breast cancer screening methods are needed to be introduced and guidance about their application frequency should be provided for women in gynecology outpatient clinics.
Advances in erythropoietic growth factor therapy for myelodysplastic syndromes

Refractory anaemia associated with excessive intramedullary erythroid apoptosis and dysplasia is a major feature of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Recombinant human erythropoietin (specifically, epoetin alfa [EPO]) has been used in the therapy of MDS for many years. Initially, the erythroid response rates were modest, as EPO was used in all subgroups of MDS patients without discretion. However, with increased sophistication in patient selection and response evaluation criteria, there has been a significant improvement in the response rates to EPO therapy. This review discusses the evolution of therapeutic strategies incorporating EPO for the treatment of MDS.
Alterations in the extrinsic pathway in hypertriglyceridemia do not cause a ‘procoagulant state': effects of bezafibrate therapy

Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Hemostatic variables [factor VII antigen (FVIIag), factor VII coagulant activity (FVIIc), activated factor VII (FVIIa), free and endothelial-associated (EC) tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) antigen, pre- and post-heparin total TFPI activity, EC-TFPI activity, prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2), fibrinogen and D-dimer] were compared between 18 HTG patients and 20 controls to investigate whether HTG is associated with alterations in the extrinsic pathway and whether such alterations create a procoagulant state, as expressed by F1 + 2 and D-dimer levels. In addition, the effects of bezafibrate therapy (6 weeks, 400 mg/day) on these variables were studied in 18 HTG patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. FVIIag, FVIIc, free TFPI and fibrinogen were significantly higher in HTG patients (by 44, 30, 45 and 31%, respectively; all P < 0.02), while FVIIa, EC-TFPIag and activity, total TFPI activities, F1 + 2 and D-dimer levels were similar in patients and controls. Bezafibrate reduced serum TG and fibrinogen levels (by 62 and 20%, respectively; both P < 0.001), whereas the other hemostatic variables were unaffected. In conclusion, the observed alterations in the extrinsic pathway in HTG are not associated with a procoagulant state. In contrast, the presence of elevated fibrinogen levels in HTG might enhance the risk for CVD. Bezafibrate therapy improved the adverse lipid profile and decreased fibrinogen levels in HTG patients.
Differences in self-concept among persons with disabilities due to practicing adaptive alpine skiing.

Akutna poškodba, ki vodi do invalidnosti hudo moti uveljavljeno ravnotežje v samopodobi in socializaciji posameznika. Ko so faze žalovanja zaključene, se samopodoba začne počasi obnavljati. Glavni cilj raziskave je bil ugotoviti ali prilagojene športne aktivnosti, alpsko smučanje igrajo pomembno vlogo pri vzpostavljanju in vzdrževanju pozitivne samopodobe invalidov. Študija je preučila ali je vadbo prilagojenega alpskega smučanja mogoče povezati z boljšo telesno in socialno samopodobo. Raziskava je bila izvedena med dvema skupinama odraslih anketirancev, invalidov, ki se redno ukvarjajo s športom in kontrolno skupino, ki se s športom ne ukvarja. Za ugotavljanje samopodobe je bila uporabljena Tenneessee lestvica samopodobe. Rezultati so pokazali pomembne razlike v zvezi z nekaterimi kazalniki samopodobe: telesni in osebni jaz, identiteta, samo-zadovoljstvo ter samo-vrednotenje. Rezultati podpirajo hipoteze, da šport pozitivno vpliva na določene aspekte samopodobe ter lastno percepcijo. Za izgradnjo pozitivne samopodobe zato predlagamo vključevanje v športne aktivnosti že v pozni fazi rehabilitacije. Ključne besede: samopodoba, akutna poškodba, invalidnost, prilagojeno alpsko smučanje, socialna integracija ABSTRACT
Systemic Sclerosis Revealing T-Cell Lymphoma

We describe a case of systemic sclerosis (SSc) occurring together with malignant lymphoma. A 43-year-old man, who had noticed sclerodactyly 1 month before consultation, was admitted for progressive skin sclerosis on his forearms and chest. SSc was diagnosed. Immediately after admission, skin sclerosis rapidly extended to the neck and trunk, and subcutaneous tumors developed on the neck, chest and back. Skin sclerosis was prominent at the sites where subcutaneous tumors were present. The tumors were diagnosed as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of T-cell phenotype derived from soft tissue. Following 4 cycles of chemotherapy, he had complete remission and the skin sclerosis remarkably improved. It is possible that cytokines produced by T-cell lymphoma cells were responsible for the development of skin sclerosis in this case.
Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2005, Featuring Trends in Lung Cancer, Tobacco Use, and Tobacco Control

Background The American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) collaborate annually to provide updated information on cancer occurrence and trends in the United States. This year’s report includes trends in lung cancer incidence and death rates, tobacco use, and tobacco control by state of residence. Methods Information on invasive cancers was obtained from the NCI, CDC, and NAACCR and information on mortality from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. Annual percentage changes in the age-standardized incidence and death rates (2000 US population standard) for all cancers combined and for the top 15 cancers were estimated by joinpoint analysis of long-term (1975–2005) trends and by least squares linear regression of short-term (1996–2005) trends. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results Both incidence and death rates from all cancers combined decreased statistically significantly (P < .05) in men and women overall and in most racial and ethnic populations. These decreases were driven largely by declines in both incidence and death rates for the three most common cancers in men (lung, colorectum, and prostate) and for two of the three leading cancers in women (breast and colorectum), combined with a leveling off of lung cancer death rates in women. Although the national trend in female lung cancer death rates has stabilized since 2003, after increasing for several decades, there is prominent state and regional variation. Lung cancer incidence and/or death rates among women increased in 18 states, 16 of them in the South or Midwest, where, on average, the prevalence of smoking was higher and the annual percentage decrease in current smoking among adult women was lower than in the West and Northeast. California was the only state with decreasing lung cancer incidence and death rates in women. Conclusions Although the decrease in overall cancer incidence and death rates is encouraging, large state and regional differences in lung cancer trends among women underscore the need to maintain and strengthen many state tobacco control programs.
Palivizumab: The Effects of Prophylactic Immunization on the Occurrence of Infections Caused by the Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Abstract Aim The aim of this research is to analyze the characteristics of children immunized during immunization season, and their readmission to hospital due to infections of the respiratory tract in the period from 2008 to 2016. Method The retrospective cohort study included 101 children. The test group consists of infants who met the strict criteria for immunization. The national guidance was determined on the basis of earlier research and recommendations by the AAP. All the children who had been readmitted for hospitalization were quickly tested for RSV. Results Of this total, 47 children were preterm children (46.5%), 43 (42.5%) were children with CHD, and 11 (11%) exhibited other individual risk factors (gestational age 33–34 weeks, neurological disorders, respiratory anomalies, multi-organ anomalies). 25 (24%) patients of the immunized study population readmitted the ward due to respiratory infections. Of these, 50% were under the age of 6 months and were treated for less than a week on average. Upon readmission, a quick test to diagnose for RSV infections was conducted, which was negative for all of the previously immunized children. Conclusion Palivizumab represents an effective prevention to avoid RSV infections, that significantly contributes to mortality for children at risk, especially in developing countries.
The effect of 24-40 hours of sleep deprivation on the P300 response to auditory target stimuli.

INTRODUCTION Recent studies report lengthening of latency and the reduction of amplitude of the P300 component of event-related potentials (ERP) recorded to auditory targets following a night of sleep deprivation. However, no study has examined whether sleep deprivation impacts the circadian effect on P300. In the present study, we examined the impact of 24-40 h of sleep deprivation and of the circadian rhythm on the P300. METHODS There were 18 subjects tested at 08:30, 14:30, and 21:30 on two different days: once following a night of normal nocturnal sleep and once following a night in which subjects did not sleep. Behavioral and electrophysiological measures were recorded during each session. RESULTS P300 amplitude was not significantly affected either by sleep deprivation or by time of day. However, P300 latency was lengthened by 27 ms following sleep deprivation [F (1,14) = 28.55; p < 0.0001]. There was a significant interaction between sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm [F (2,13) = 3.27; p < 0.05]. When subjects were not sleep deprived, P300 latency was decreased during the late evening session. In contrast, when subjects were sleep deprived, P300 latency was significantly increased during the 21:30 session. P300 latency significantly predicted reaction time when subjects were sleep deprived, but not when they were not sleep deprived. DISCUSSION Sleep deprivation impacts negatively on the ability to correctly categorize stimuli in discrimination tasks especially during the late evening hours. The impact of sleep loss at critical hours of the day on cognitive processing should be included in any planning of operations requiring speedy and accurate decisions.
Adaptive Multiuser Scheduling for Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer in a Multicell Environment

Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) is a promising technique to transmit information and harvest energy at the same time. In this paper, we investigate multiuser scheduling criteria in a multiuser SWIPT system taking into account co-channel interference in a multicell environment, where each transmitter operate independently. We propose an <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-adaptive scheduling scheme, which is able to adjust a scheduling criterion between maximizing achievable rate and maximizing harvested energy of the scheduled device by adjusting <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha $ </tex-math></inline-formula> factor. Employing a power splitting receiver, we derive closed-form analytical results including cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the harvested energy, CDF of the achievable rate, average harvested energy, and average achievable rate. We also investigate the effect of adjustable <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha $ </tex-math></inline-formula> factor in the proposed scheduling scheme and multiuser diversity in terms of the CDF of the harvested energy, the CDF of the achievable rate, and rate-energy tradeoff, compared with two conventional scheduling schemes: random scheduling and max-SNR scheduling. Our analytical results provide insightful information for designing multiuser scheduling criteria considering co-channel interference in the SWIPT systems.
Animal Tissue Techniques

Clearly, the possibility that Van Peenen's statements are correct exists, but no molecular geneticist would contend that these assertions have been established, in any but a very few cases, which appear at present to be atypical. The educated lavman, for whom this book is intended, will find the author's leaps from the level of the quoted material into sophisticated physical chemistry and back again disconcerting at least, if not completely confusing. It can be said, however, that the authors have assembled an excellent group of illustrations; lecturers in elementary genetics wishing to locate clear illustrations to use as slides would do well to look in this book first.
Prevalence, characteristics and clinical diagnosis of maturity onset diabetes of the young due to mutations in HNF1A, HNF4A, and glucokinase: results from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth.

AIMS Our study aims were to determine the frequency of MODY mutations (HNF1A, HNF4A, glucokinase) in a diverse population of youth with diabetes and to assess how well clinical features identify youth with maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY). METHODS The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study is a US multicenter, population-based study of youth with diabetes diagnosed at age younger than 20 years. We sequenced genomic DNA for mutations in the HNF1A, HNF4A, and glucokinase genes in 586 participants enrolled in SEARCH between 2001 and 2006. Selection criteria included diabetes autoantibody negativity and fasting C-peptide levels of 0.8 ng/mL or greater. RESULTS We identified a mutation in one of three MODY genes in 47 participants, or 8.0% of the tested sample, for a prevalence of at least 1.2% in the pediatric diabetes population. Of these, only 3 had a clinical diagnosis of MODY, and the majority was treated with insulin. Compared with the MODY-negative group, MODY-positive participants had lower FCP levels (2.2 ± 1.4 vs 3.2 ± 2.1 ng/mL, P < .01) and fewer type 2 diabetes-like metabolic features. Parental history of diabetes did not significantly differ between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION In this systematic study of MODY in a large pediatric US diabetes cohort, unselected by referral pattern or family history, MODY was usually misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated with insulin. Although many type 2 diabetes-like metabolic features were less common in the mutation-positive group, no single characteristic identified all patients with mutations. Clinicians should be alert to the possibility of MODY diagnosis, particularly in antibody-negative youth with diabetes.
Orientation specific synthesis of kinked silicon nanowires grown by the vapour–liquid–solid mechanism

Kinked silicon nanowires (Si-NWs) were synthesized in a well reproducible manner using gold nanocluster-catalyzed quasi-one-dimensional growth on Si(111) substrates with silane (SiH4) as the precursor gas. The kinking is considered to be due to the change in the growth direction induced by the sudden change of the pressure during Si-NW synthesis. Structural high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) characterization of the sample shows that epitaxial Si-NWs synthesized on Si(111) substrates at a total pressure of 3 mbar grow along the direction, while the ones at 15 mbar favour the direction. By dynamically changing the system pressure during the growth process morphological changes of the NW growth directions along their length have been shown, resulting in kinked nanowires. The crystallographic orientation relation of the kinking between the 3 and 15 mbar ranges has been analysed by TEM. It is shown that no defects or grain boundaries in the intersection between the two sections of the Si-NWs are necessary to form such kinks between different wire directions.
The Challenge of Imaging Dense Breast Parenchyma: Is Magnetic Resonance Mammography the Technique of Choice? A Comparative Study With X-Ray Mammography and Whole-Breast Ultrasound

Purpose:To establish the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast in comparison to x-ray mammography and ultrasound for breast cancer evaluation in women with dense breast parenchyma. Materials and Methods:Two hundred thirty-eight women with dense breast parenchyma who were suspicious for breast cancer or inconclusive for the presence of breast lesions based on clinical examination, ultrasound or x-ray mammography, and who underwent breast MRI at 1.5 T before and after administration of 0.1 mmol/kg gadobenate dimeglumine were evaluated. Lesions considered malignant (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) 4 or 5) on x-ray mammography and/or ultrasound and as BI-RADS 3, 4, or 5 on MRI were evaluated histologically. Other lesions were followed up at 6 and/or 18 months. The diagnostic performance (sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values) of each technique was determined and compared using a general linear mixed model with appropriate correction for multiplicity. Results:At final diagnosis 121 of 238 (50.8%) women had one or more confirmed malignant lesions, whereas 117 (49.2%) had benign lesions or no lesions. Among 97 women who underwent all 3 techniques more lesions (malignant and benign) were detected with breast MRI (n = 135) than with x-ray mammography (n = 85) or ultrasound (n = 107) and diagnostic confidence was greater. In terms of patient-based diagnostic accuracy breast MRI was significantly (P[r] < 0.0001) superior to both x-ray mammography and ultrasound (96.9% accuracy for MRI vs. 60.8% for mammography and 66.0% for US). Malignant lesions were histologically confirmed in 55 of 97 women who underwent all 3 techniques. Breast MRI detected more cases of multifocal, multicentric, and contralateral disease and fewer misdiagnoses occurred. Overall, breast MRI led to a modification of the surgical approach for 28 (23.1%) of the 121 women with diagnosed malignant disease. Conclusion:Breast MRI should be considered for routine breast cancer evaluation in women with dense breast parenchyma.