Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computerized versus hand-scored health literacy tools: a comparison of Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) and Flesch-Kincaid in printed patient education materials

Objective The research compared and contrasted hand-scoring and computerized methods of evaluating the grade level of patient education materials that are distributed at an academic medical center in east Tennessee and sought to determine if these materials adhered to the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) recommended reading level of sixth grade. Methods Librarians at an academic medical center located in the heart of Appalachian Tennessee initiated the assessment of 150 of the most used printed patient education materials. Based on the Flesch-Kincaid (F-K) scoring rubric, 2 of the 150 documents were excluded from statistical comparisons due to the absence of text (images only). Researchers assessed the remaining 148 documents using the hand-scored Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) method and the computerized F-K grade level method. For SMOG, 3 independent reviewers hand-scored each of the 150 documents. For F-K, documents were analyzed using Microsoft Word. Reading grade levels scores were entered into a database for statistical analysis. Inter-rater reliability was calculated using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Paired t-tests were used to compare readability means. Results Acceptable inter-rater reliability was found for SMOG (ICC=0.95). For the 148 documents assessed, SMOG produced a significantly higher mean reading grade level (M=9.6, SD=1.3) than F-K (M=6.5, SD=1.3; p<0.001). Additionally, when using the SMOG method of assessment, 147 of the 148 documents (99.3%) scored above the AMA’s recommended reading level of sixth grade. Conclusions Computerized health literacy assessment tools, used by many national patient education material providers, might not be representative of the actual reading grade levels of patient education materials. This is problematic in regions like Appalachia because materials may not be comprehensible to the area’s low-literacy patients. Medical librarians have the potential to advance their role in patient education to better serve their patient populations.
Heterotransplantation of human cancers into nude mice. A model system for human cancer chemotherapy

More than 200 human cancers have been successfully transplanted into nude athymic mice in our laboratory. Strict sterile techniques must be applied in caring for these animals and meticulous attention given to the preparation of the surgical specimens. That the tumors remain human in the mice has been documented by isozyme and karyotype analyses. Also, histopathologic comparisons between the original human tumors and their transplanted counterparts in the mice are strikingly similar or identical. Preliminary results of chemotherapy of human cancers in the nude mice are extremely encouraging. At this point, we believe that the greatest potential for the nude mice lies in their use in testing anticancer therapies for human neoplasms without placing the patients at risk. Cancer 42:2269–2281, 1978.
Forest transitions, trade, and the global displacement of land use

Reducing tropical deforestation is an international priority, given its impacts on carbon emissions and biodiversity. We examined whether recent forest transitions—a shift from net deforestation to net reforestation—involved a geographic displacement of forest clearing across countries through trade in agricultural and forest products. In most of the seven developing countries that recently experienced a forest transition, displacement of land use abroad accompanied local reforestation. Additional global land-use change embodied in their net wood trade offset 74% of their total reforested area. Because the reforesting countries continued to export more agricultural goods than they imported, this net displacement offset 22% of their total reforested area when both agriculture and forestry sectors are included. However, this net displacement increased to 52% during the last 5 y. These countries thus have contributed to a net global reforestation and/or decrease in the pressure on forests, but this global environmental benefit has been shrinking during recent years. The net decrease in the pressure on forests does not account for differences in their ecological quality. Assessments of the impacts of international policies aimed at reducing global deforestation should integrate international trade in agricultural and forest commodities.
The Rational Voter , Thinly Sliced : Personal Appeal as an Election Forecaster

We construct a measure of gubernatorial candidates’ personal appeal by showing 10-second, silent video clips of unfamiliar gubernatorial debates to a group of experimental participants and asking them to predict the election outcomes. The participants’ predictions explain more than 20 percent of the variation in the actual two-party vote share across the 58 elections in our study, and their importance survives a range of controls, including state fixed effects. Adding policy information to the video clips by turning on the sound tends, if anything, to worsen participants’ accuracy. In a horse race of alternative forecasting models, personal factors as measured in our study significantly outperform economic variables in predicting vote shares, and are comparable in predictive power to a measure of incumbency status. JEL classification: D72, J45, Z19
Life-Sustaining Treatment: A Comparison of the Preferences of Taiwanese Older Adults and Their Family Caregiver

Background: Written advance directives are not common practice in Taiwan; thus, when older adults are critically ill, family members are usually the ones to make decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment. Purpose: This study determined how well the preferences of the family members for the older adults match the preferences of the older adults themselves with regard to life-sustaining treatment. Methods: A cross-sectional comparative descriptive research design was used in this study. Ninety-five pairs of older adults and their families were included in the final analysis. The Life Support Preferences Questionnaire was used to measure life-sustaining preferences. Paired- sample t tests were performed to compare the mean differences between the older adults’ preferences and the family members’ preferences for these older adults. Finding: Family members scored higher on life-sustaining treatment preferences than the older adults for all 32 examined items, with 23 (72%) of these items showing statistical significance. Conclusion/Implications for Practice: Communication between older adults and their family members regarding life-sustaining treatment may help prevent older adults from receiving unwanted treatments.
Genetic Susceptibility to Graves’ Ophthalmopathy

Graves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune thyroid disorder (AITD) with aberrant antibody production resulting in hyperthyroidism [1]. It is characterized by T cell and B cell reactivity to the thyrotropin (thyroid stimulating hormone; TSH) receptor (TSHR) located on the endothelial surface of thyroid follicular cells, and the presence of abundant serum antibodies against TSHR (TRAb) is used as a specific marker of GD. Follicular hyperplasia, intracellular colloid droplets, cell thinning and patchy T cell-predominant lymphocytic infiltrations can be observed in thyroid gland histology of GD patients. GD is considered primarily a T helper-2 (Th2) autoimmune disease, as TRAb stimulates TSHR as an agonist, resulting in the excessive production of thyroid hormones. The pathogenesis of GD has been studied for decades and several risk factors have been identified. Similar to other autoimmune diseases, GD is believed to develop because of a combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers. Often there is a familial history of disease and it is prevalent in women [2]. These facts support a role for genetic susceptibility in the pathogenesis of GD. Environmental factors are also considered important for the susceptibility and onset of disease. Infections have been predicted to have a pivotal role in triggering autoimmune reactions and the breakdown of tolerance leading to GD, although evidence is scarce. Patients with GD frequently have a history of some type of psychological and/or physiological stress [3]. Recently, epigenetic factors have also been demonstrated to be involved in autoimmune pathogenesis [4]. Classical GD was descri‐ bed as a syndrome consisting of tachycardia, goiter and orbitopathy, called “Merseburg triad”. Most GD patients develop tachycardia and goiter; however, GD patients with orbitopathy, named Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO), occur in up to 60% of all GD patients [5]. In particular, GO worsens the patients quality of life because of its intractable symptoms, including diplopia, proptosis, chemosis and retro-orbital pain. With severe GO patients may risk visual loss. Moreover, GO is also experienced in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) across ethnic backgrounds [6, 7]. HT is another common AITD, which is thought to develop from a combi‐
Insurance parity and the use of outpatient mental health care following a psychiatric hospitalization.

CONTEXT Mental health services are typically subject to higher cost sharing than other health services. In 2008, the US Congress enacted legislation requiring parity in insurance coverage for mental health services in group health plans and Medicare Part B. OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between mental health insurance parity and the use of timely follow-up care after a psychiatric hospitalization. DESIGN, SETTING, AND POPULATION We reviewed cost-sharing requirements for outpatient mental health and general medical services for 302 Medicare health plans from 2001 to 2006. Among 43 892 enrollees in 173 health plans who were hospitalized for a mental illness, we determined the relation between parity in cost sharing and receipt of timely outpatient mental health care after discharge using cross-sectional analyses of all Medicare plans and longitudinal analyses of 10 plans that discontinued parity compared with 10 matched control plans that maintained parity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Outpatient mental health visits within 7 and 30 days following a discharge for a psychiatric hospitalization. RESULTS More than three-quarters of Medicare plans, representing 79% of Medicare enrollees, required greater cost sharing for mental health care compared with primary or specialty care. The adjusted rate of follow-up within 30 days after a psychiatric hospitalization was 10.9 percentage points greater (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.6-17.3; P < .001) in plans with equivalent cost sharing for mental health and primary care compared with plans with mental health cost sharing greater than primary and specialty care cost sharing. The association of parity with follow-up care was increased for enrollees from areas of low income and less education. Rates of follow-up visits within 30 days decreased by 7.7 percentage points (95% CI, -12.9 to -2.4; P = .004) in plans that discontinued parity and increased by 7.5 percentage points (95% CI, 2.0-12.9; P = .008) among control plans that maintained parity (adjusted difference in difference, 14.2 percentage points; 95% CI, 4.5-23.9; P = .007). CONCLUSION Medicare enrollees in health plans with insurance parity for mental health and primary care have markedly higher use of clinically appropriate mental health services following a psychiatric hospitalization.
Imaging Carotid Atherosclerosis Plaque Ulceration: Comparison of Advanced Imaging Modalities and Recent Developments

SUMMARY: Atherosclerosis remains the leading cause of long-term mortality and morbidity worldwide, despite remarkable advancement in its management. Vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques are principally responsible for thromboembolic events in various arterial territories such as carotid, coronary, and lower limb vessels. Carotid plaque ulceration is one of the key features associated with plaque vulnerability and is considered a notable indicator of previous plaque rupture and possible future cerebrovascular events. Multiple imaging modalities have been used to assess the degree of carotid plaque ulceration for diagnostic and research purposes. Early diagnosis and management of carotid artery disease could prevent further cerebrovascular events. In this review, we highlight the merits and limitations of various imaging techniques for identifying plaque ulceration.
Texture mapping on 3D surfaces using clustering-based cutting paths

Texture mapping is a common technique in computer graphics used to render realistic images. Our goal is to achieve distortion-free texture mapping on arbitrary 3D surfaces. To texture 3D models, we propose a scheme to flatten 3D surfaces into a 2D parametric domain. Our method does not require the 2D boundary of flattened surfaces to be stationary. The proposed method consists of three steps: (1) we find high distortion areas in a 2D parametric domain and find a cutting path over these areas, (2) we add virtual points to adaptively find the better parametric domain boundary instead of a predefined boundary and (3) we perform a well-known smoothing technique for better texture mapping. The proposed scheme can be efficiently realised by a linear system and yields interactive performance. Several experimental results for both genus-0 and non-genus-0 models are presented to verify the proposed scheme.
Defects in Auxiliary Redox Proteins Lead to Functional Methionine Synthase Deficiency*

Methionine synthase catalyzes a methyl transfer reaction from methyltetrahydrofolate to homocysteine to form methionine and tetrahydrofolate and is dependent on methylcobalamin, a derivative of vitamin B12, for activity. Due to the lability of the intermediate, cob(I)alamin, the activity of methionine synthase is additionally dependent on a redox activation system. In bacteria, two flavoproteins, NADPH-flavodoxin reductase and flavodoxin, shuttle electrons from NADPH to methionine synthase. Their mammalian counterparts are unknown, and a putative intrinsic thiol oxidase activity of the mammalian methionine synthase has been proposed to be involved. We demonstrate that the mammalian methionine synthase can be activated in an NADPH-dependent reaction and requires a minimum of two redox proteins. This model is consistent with our results from biochemical complementation studies betweencblG and cblE cell lines and mutation detection analysis in cblG cell lines. These demonstrate that thecblG cell line has defects affecting methionine synthase directly, whereas the cblE cell line has defects in the redox proteins. We have also identified a P1173L mutation in the activation domain of methionine synthase in the cblG cell line WG1505.
Colonial Labour Internationalized: Portugal and the Decolonization Momentum (1945–1975)

Abstract The history of the convoluted devolution of power in late colonialism can only be fully apprehended if its international and transnational dimensions are brought into the picture. Diverse modalities of internationalism shaped the disparate trajectories of colonialism and decolonization in multiple societal domains, in diverse ways. We depart from the labour question in the Portuguese late colonial empire to highlight three main inter-related aspects in order to demonstrate this argument. First, that the history of Portuguese late colonialism and decolonization was significantly moulded by international and transnational actors, institutions and networks, despite the authoritarian and nationalist nature of the metropolitan regime. Second, that the social and economic dimensions of Portuguese colonialism were a permanent feature of administrative and diplomatic ruminations regarding possible strategies of imperial resilience in a context of mounting anti-colonial pressures. Therefore, they need to be properly studied in order to advance our understanding of the trajectories of imperial disengagement. Third, that despite the increasingly hostile global order to imperial and colonial powers, noticeable in many international fora, the latter were always conceived both as channels for the expression of anti-colonial dissidence and as potentially useful instruments for those interested in advocating the continuity of imperial formations.
Newly developed post-operative atrial fibrillation is associated with an increased risk of late recurrence of atrial fibrillation in patients who underwent open heart surgery: Long-term follow up.

BACKGROUND Herein is sought to determine whether the occurrence of post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) increases the risk of late recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients undergoing open heart surgery (OHS). METHODS This study included 938 patients (56.7 ± 13.1 years old, 550 males) with no history of AF who underwent OHS. All patients were monitored continuously for development of POAF after surgery until the time of hospital discharge and received clinical follow up with serial evaluation of rhythm status. RESULTS Among the total population, POAF occurred in 207 (22.1%) patients and late AF in 88 (9.4%) patients during the mean follow up period of 78.1 ± 39.1 months. Development of late AF oc¬curred more frequently in patients with POAF than in those without [29.0% (60/207) vs. 3.8% (28/731), p < 0.01]. Higher septal E/e' ratio (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00-1.08, p = 0.04) was an independent predic¬tor of late occurrence of AF and an episode of POAF (HR 27.12, 95% CI 8.46-86.96, p < 0.01) was the most powerful predictor. CONCLUSIONS POAF is significantly associated with an increased risk of late AF recurrence during long-term follow up. Careful concern regarding late recurrence of AF with serial evaluation of rhythm status is required in patients with POAF.
High-Sensitivity Troponin T and Cardiovascular Events in Systolic Blood Pressure Categories: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Based on observational studies, there is a linear increase in cardiovascular risk with higher systolic blood pressure (SBP), yet clinical trials have not shown benefit across all SBP categories. We assessed whether troponin T measured using high-sensitivity assay was associated with cardiovascular disease within SBP categories in 11 191 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study participants. Rested sitting SBP by 10-mm Hg increments and troponin categories were identified. Incident heart failure hospitalization, coronary heart disease, and stroke were ascertained for a median of 12 years after excluding individuals with corresponding disease. Approximately 53% of each type of cardiovascular event occurred in individuals with SBP<140 mm Hg and troponin T ≥3 ng/L. Higher troponin T was associated with increasing cardiovascular events across most SBP categories. The association was strongest for heart failure and least strong for stroke. There was no similar association of SBP with cardiovascular events across troponin T categories. Individuals with troponin T ≥3 ng/L and SBP <140 mm Hg had higher cardiovascular risk compared with those with troponin T <3 ng/L and SBP 140 to 159 mm Hg. Higher troponin T levels within narrow SBP categories portend increased cardiovascular risk, particularly for heart failure. Individuals with lower SBP but measurable troponin T had greater cardiovascular risk compared with those with suboptimal SBP but undetectable troponin T. Future trials of systolic hypertension may benefit by using high-sensitivity troponin T to target high-risk patients.
Filling a cavity dramatically increases pressure stability of the c‐Myb R2 subdomain

Cavities or packing defects in proteins may generally be related with the dynamics and function of a protein. In the c‐Myb R2 subdomain, its single cavity has been shown to be crucial for its DNA recognition. Cavities are also considered important in determining the pressure stability of a protein. In the present work, high‐pressure proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy at 750 MHz is used to study the effect of a cavity‐filling mutation (V103L) on the stability of the c‐Myb R2 subdomain in the pressure range between 1 and 3,700 bar at 5°C. A dramatic increase in the pressure stability of the c‐Myb R2 subdomain is attained, from which we estimate the cavity size to be 35.3 Å3, in good agreement with literature values. We also evaluated the increase in thermodynamic stability ΔG 01bar from 5.35 kJ/mol to 7.34 kJ/mol by the mutation, giving a clear example of the effect of a cavity on the global stability of a globular protein. Proteins 2001;45:96–101. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Dance of the Call Bells: Using Ethnography to Evaluate Patient Satisfaction With Quality of Care

Ethnographic methods can provide insights into patients' perceptions of quality of care. We used ethnographic methods to examine problems related to answering patient call lights on one inpatient unit in the hospital. Communication through call bells consisted of 3 interrelated components. These included answering the call bell, communicating the patient's request, and following through with the request. Results of this study provided a deeper understanding of the nuances of power and control embedded within the issue of patient-caregiver communication and empowered unit staff to find solutions to the call bell problem.
Detection of density-dependent growth at two spatial scales in marble trout (Salmo marmoratus) populations

Density-dependent body growth has often been observed in freshwater salmonid populations. Several studies suggest this compensatory pattern as a potential mechanism of population regulation. The choice of the spatial scale is important for the detection of density- dependent growth, as study areas need to be of the appropriate size to capture the density of conspecifics actually experienced by individuals over the preceding growth period. Here, we used four marble trout (Salmo marmoratus) populations (Gatsnik, Gorska, Huda and Zakojska) living in Slovenian stream to study the relationships between early density of marble trout and subsequent body growth. As streams are divided in sectors delimited by natural barriers that prevent or strongly limit movement of individuals, we tested the relationship between early density and body size through the lifetime at two spatial scales, that is, sector level (for Gatsnik and Zakojska) and whole stream level (the four populations were pooled). Sector length in Gatsnik and Zakojska ranged from 113 to 516 m. At both sector and whole stream level, temporal data were pooled. Growth declined significantly with increasing density both at the sector and whole stream levels, and the density-dependent relationship was described by negative power curves. However, at the sector level the density-dependent pattern was stronger in Gatsnik, a stream in which fish could move across sectors, than in Zakojska, where upstream movement across sectors is prevented by waterfalls.
Moisture barrier properties and morphology of mesquite gum – candelilla wax based edible emulsion coatings

Composite edible coatings were formulated with candelilla wax alone, and candelilla wax blended with beeswax, white mineral oil and oleic acid (2:1 ratios) as the lipid phase, and mesquite gum as the structural material and their corrected water vapor permeability (WVPc) were determined. The coatings were applied to Persian limes and their effect upon physiological weight loss, color and chemical composition changes were evaluated. Addition of the blend of candelilla wax–mineral oil improved the WVPc (P<0.05) of the candelilla wax–mesquite gum coating formulation, and provided the lowest physiological weight loss, best dark shade green colour retention and unaltered physicochemical parameters to Persian limes, in comparison to the rest of the coating formulations tested. There was a close relationship between the performance and the microstructure of coatings. Coatings showing more uniform and less defects (fissures, fractures, pinholes) in the surface morphology were those exhibiting the lowest WVP values. # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.