Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knowledge and management of diarrhea among underserved minority parents/caregivers.

OBJECTIVE Dehydration resulting from diarrhea continues to be a cause of morbidity, mortality, and increased health care costs in the United States. This study assesses parental knowledge of the causes and signs of diarrhea and dehydration. It also examines parental-care practices during an episode of diarrhea. METHODS A survey was given to 219 parents/caregivers of children less than 5 years of age who presented to a pediatric continuity clinic. A bilingual interviewer was used to administer the surveys to participants for assessing knowledge of causes, signs, and treatment of diarrhea; signs of dehydration; and care practices during an episode of diarrhea. RESULTS A wide variation in the level of awareness of signs, causes, and treatment of diarrhea was detected. General knowledge of diarrhea was related positively to accessibility of health information, level of education, ethnicity, and experience with dehydration. General knowledge of diarrhea, adjusted for level of education, was higher in African Americans than in Hispanics. CONCLUSIONS In children, dehydration from diarrhea may be prevented by increasing parents'/caregivers' general knowledge of diarrhea and dehydration and the appropriate usage of oral rehydration solutions. Intervention programs designed to increase parents'/caregivers' knowledge must be culturally sensitive and appropriate for diverse educational backgrounds and must assist in improving access to health-related information.
Epidemiology of cancers among adolescents and young adults from a tertiary cancer center in Delhi

Abstract Background and Objectives: Although cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) is increasingly an area of focus, there is a paucity of clinical and epidemiological data from developing countries. Our objective was to analyze the geographical distribution, sex ratio, histology, and disease patterns of cancers in AYA. Materials and Methods: All patients aged 15-29 years with the diagnosis of cancer who were registered with two hospitals in New Delhi during a 12-month period from January 2014 to December 2014 were included. Basic demographic information on age, sex, location of stay, and nationality was available. Using cancer site and morphology codes, the cancers were grouped by the Birch classification of AYA cancers. Clinical information on disease and treatment status, was retrospectively studied. Results: There were 287 patients (57.5% male, 85.4% Indian origin) registered with 54 (18.8%), 97 (33.8%), and 136 (47.4%) patients in the 15-19, 20-24, and 25-29 years age groups, respectively. The three most common cancer groups were carcinomas (40.8%), lymphomas (12.9%), and leukemias (10.4%). The three most common sites in carcinomas were gastrointestinal tract (GIT), genitourinary tract, and breast. The most prevalent cancers in younger AYA (15-19 years) were leukemias, lymphomas, central nervous system neoplasms, and in contrast, older AYA (25-29 years) suffered mainly from GIT Carcinomas, lymphomas. The leading cancers were breast and GIT carcinomas in females and lymphomas and GIT carcinomas in males. Conclusion: The occurrence of cancer in AYA in India has been described. The distribution differs from the only previous report from India as well as the US Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database, which can be attributed to a referral bias along with the factual difference in cancer etiology and genetics.
Cell Production in Injured Vocal Folds: A Rat Study

Objectives: Fibroblasts are reported to play an important role in producing the extracellular matrix of the vocal fold. However, no reports have focused on how and where these cells are generated in the vocal fold after injury. To reveal the characteristics of vocal fold cell production, we investigated cell proliferation in the acute phase of wound healing. Methods: Using a telescope for guidance, we made an incision in the middle region of the vocal fold tissue in 24 rats and performed immunohistochemical staining for vimentin, α-smooth muscle actin, and 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine. Results: After injury, epithelialization occurred with a peak at day 1, and fibroblasts proliferated in the lamina propria with a peak at day 3, whereas those in the macula flava did not show any increased proliferation. Conclusions: It is suggested that the fibroblasts in the macula flava have functions different from those of fibroblasts in the lamina propria and that the macula flava does not serve as a cell source for the vocal fold in response to injury.
Antibiogram and plasmid profiling of carbapenemase and extended spectrum Beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in Abeokuta, South western, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND The increased reports of ESBL dissemination from various centres in south western, Nigeria and the recent emergence of carbapenem resistant bacteria prompted the conception of this study. OBJECTIVES To demonstrate the relationship between high molecular weight plasmids and the expression of antibiotic multi-resistance including ESBL and carbapenemase. METHODS We investigated 97 isolates of selected organisms consisting of 67 E. coli and 30 Klebseilla spp for the presence of plasmids expressing ESBL including carbapenem-hydrolysing enzymes. Beta-lactamase was determined using acidometric method, while ESBL and carbapenemase activity was determined using the double-disk diffusion test as well as the Modified Hodge test (MHT). Plasmid profiles of ESBL and carbapenemase positive isolates were determined according to standard protocols. RESULTS An ESBL prevalence rate of 21.6% and carbapenem- resistance rate of 9.3% was recorded. Antibiotic susceptibility profile of ESBL isolates showed 100.0% resistance against Amoxicillin, Cotrimoxazole and Erythromycin. Moderate susceptibility was recorded against the Quinolone class of antibiotics; Meropenem remained the most active antibiotic against ESBL isolates with 62.5% against E. coli and 60% against K. pneumoniae. The plasmid profiles of our study isolates ranged from 11.8kbp to 35.5kbp. CONCLUSION Due to the relationship between high molecular weight plasmids and multi-drug resistance, we hereby recommend regular molecular surveillance of this form in our study setting.
Do the psychopathic personality traits of fearless dominance and self-centered impulsivity predict attitudes about and influences on research participation?

Little is known about potential participants' views about research, their willingness to participate in research, and the extent to which they might be susceptible to coercive attempts to compel their participation, particularly among populations at risk for exploitation (e.g., offenders). The extent to which individual differences variables, such as personality constructs (e.g., psychopathic traits), might affect participants' attitudes toward research is also essentially unknown. The present study sought to examine the psychopathy constructs of Fearless Dominance (FD) and Self-Centered Impulsivity (SCI) via the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire-Brief Form (MPQ-BF) to assess the extent to which these traits predict attitudes towards research and susceptibility to coercion within a diverse criminal justice sample (N = 631). SCI was modestly associated with perceptions that illicit pressures regarding research participation were likely to occur, and participants high in these traits appeared somewhat vulnerable to succumbing to coercive influences. In contrast, FD failed to predict the likelihood that illicit pressures regarding research participation would occur as well as the potential that these pressures would have to impact participants' voluntariness and likelihood of participating. Implications for recruiting potential participants for research in correctional settings are discussed.
The Analysis Of EU’s The Western Balkan Enlargement

Enlargement of the European Union is one of most important development not only in European politics but also in the world politics in general. The European Union had accepted ten thirteen new new members from 2004 to 2013 and these new members were mainly consist of Eastern European and Balkan countries (only Malta and Cyprus were exceptions). In this context, the enlargement of the Union to Western Balkans is very important issue which had to be taken into consideration. In this article It is aimed to elaborate the achievements and failures of the EU enlargement strategies in the three Western Balkan countries. It will be analyzed that whether could it be accepted that there is a comprehensive enlargement strategy of EU for Western Balkan countries and why EU enlargement process was culminated in achievement in some countries such as Croatia and Slovenia, but it failed in another countries such as Serbia in the first decade of 21.century. This question will be assessed in line with the two fundamental theories of regional integration namely, rationalist institutionalism and sociological institutionalism. In the research study, it reached that sociological institutionalism provides more appropriate perspective for the purpose of explaining the different results of enlargement strategy in the Balkan countries.o
A G1 Cyclin Is Necessary for Maintenance of Filamentous Growth in Candida albicans

ABSTRACT Candida albicans undergoes a dramatic morphological transition in response to various growth conditions. This ability to switch from a yeast form to a hyphal form is required for its pathogenicity. The intractability of Candida to traditional genetic approaches has hampered the study of the molecular mechanism governing this developmental switch. Our approach is to use the more genetically tractable yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to yield clues about the molecular control of filamentation for further studies in Candida. G1 cyclins Cln1 and Cln2 have been implicated in the control of morphogenesis in S. cerevisiae. We show that C. albicans CLN1(CaCLN1) has the same cell cycle-specific expression pattern as CLN1 and CLN2 of S. cerevisiae. To investigate whether G1 cyclins are similarly involved in the regulation of cell morphogenesis during the yeast-to-hypha transition of C. albicans, we mutatedCaCLN1. Cacln1/Cacln1 cells were found to be slower than wild-type cells in cell cycle progression. TheCacln1/Cacln1 mutants were also defective in hyphal colony formation on several solid media. Furthermore, while mutant strains developed germ tubes under several hypha-inducing conditions, they were unable to maintain the hyphal growth mode in a synthetic hypha-inducing liquid medium and were deficient in the expression of hypha-specific genes in this medium. Our results suggest that CaCln1 may coordinately regulate hyphal development with signal transduction pathways in response to various environmental cues.
When is upstream collusion profitable?

Motivated by the recent antitrust cases in which Japanese auto parts suppliers colluded to raise supply prices against their long-term collaborators, the Japanese carmakers, we study the conditions under which an upstream collusion is profitable even after compensating downstream direct purchasers. Oligopoly competition in successive industries is shown to give rise to a vertical externality and a horizontal externality. If a collusive price of intermediate goods better balances the two externalities, the collusion will raise the joint profit of all firms in the two industries and is therefore profitable for the upstream after compensation of downstream firms.
A long-term review of the treatment of patients with Ewing's sarcoma in one institution.

AIMS The treatment of patients suffering from Ewing's sarcoma has changed over the last three decades. We report the analyses, significant prognostic factors, interdisciplinary approach and development of therapy in one institution in Austria. METHODS One hundred and forty-two patients treated for Ewing's sarcoma between 1949 and 1994 were reviewed. Median follow-up was 8.5 years. Fifty-six patients were treated between 1949 and 1980 (group 1), and 86 patients between 1981 and 1994 (group 2). Patients in group 1 were treated with polychemotherapy. Patients in group 2 were treated with a neoadjuvant CESS (Cooperative Ewing's Sarcoma Study) regimen. In group 1, 24 patients underwent biopsy only, 32 patients had a definitive operation, 48 patients received either radiation therapy only or additional radiation therapy compared with in group 2: 6, 80 and 44 cases, respectively. RESULTS Five-year overall survival (OS) increased from 27% to 57%. Significant prognostic factors for OS were pre-operative metastases (P=0.0001), tumour location (P=0.0048), type of chemotherapy (P=0.002) and response to chemotherapy (P=0.0004). Chemotherapy (P=0.037), tumour location (P=0.0017) and metastases at diagnosis (P=0.0025) were significant. CONCLUSION The most effective treatment of Ewing's sarcoma is chemotherapy.
Finding determinants of e-commerce success: a PLS-SEM approach

Purpose With the growth in internet technology, the competition between the e-commerce firms has become fierce. This has forced these online vendors to consider customer-centric strategies apart from the retail strategies for generating revenue. The purpose of this paper is to propose a structural model to study the interrelationship between a formative endogenous latent variable (LV), i.e. e-commerce success, and other LVs representing the customer-oriented success factors such as website service quality (WSQ), customer support system (CSS), personalization and electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM). Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a structural model to validate the determinants of electronic commerce success. Survey-based data obtained from 265 respondents are used to validate the model hypotheses. To analyze the data, partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is performed using smartPLS 2.0 software. The results on the interrelationships between the constructs are determined using path analysis. Findings The data analysis results infer the impact of these success factors on e-commerce success systems. After applying bootstrapping technique, the authors observed that WSQ, CSS, personalization and EWOM have a significant positive effect on e-commerce system success (ESS). Further studies can be performed considering mobile commerce and their critical success factors. Practical implications The findings of the study emphasize on the importance of these four exogenous variables for e-businesses in order to achieve a competitive edge over their competitors. The study provides a detailed managerial implication with respect to each causal relationship, so as to suggest some remedial measures to gain customer market. Originality/value Here, the authors consider an empirical model which shows the determinants of ESS. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, a distinctive system success framework is modeled considering a unique combination of exogenous variables not considered by previous studies.
Evaluation of the Long-Term Stability and Impact of Remittances and Development Aid on Sustainable Economic Growth in Developing Countries

In our paper, we analyse the long-term stability and impact of remittances and development aid on sustainable economic growth in developing countries. We use two data samples from countries that were recipients of both aid and remittances in the corresponding period. First, unbalanced data from the years 1970 to 2017; that is, how countries appear in the data. Second, balanced data, where we selected the largest possible set of countries for which data exists without gaps from the years 1970–2017. This dataset consists of 57 countries for the period from 1991 to 2017. Using linear regression models, we conclude that up until the end of the 1980s, the size of aid as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) was larger than the share of remittances. After that, the situation changed and the shares of both inflows were broadly similar. The inflow of remittances was more stable than the inflow of aid and development aid did not (on the contrary to remittances) contribute positively to sustainable economic growth if we consider the entire period between 1970 and 2017. Our results suggest that a statistically significant relationship between development aid and economic growth (per capita) may be observed only in the period from 1990 to 1999. Economic growth in developing countries is negatively influenced by the uncertainty related to the flows of official development assistance (ODA) and aid in all investigated decades. In the case of the remittance flows, the increased volatility tends to contribute negatively to sustainable economic growth only when the remittance flows represent a relatively higher share of GDP.
Soil sampling and isolation of extracellular DNA from large amount of starting material suitable for metabarcoding studies

DNA metabarcoding refers to the DNA‐based identification of multiple species from a single complex and degraded environmental sample. We developed new sampling and extraction protocols suitable for DNA metabarcoding analyses targeting soil extracellular DNA. The proposed sampling protocol has been designed to reduce, as much as possible, the influence of local heterogeneity by processing a large amount of soil resulting from the mixing of many different cores. The DNA extraction is based on the use of saturated phosphate buffer. The sampling and extraction protocols were validated first by analysing plant DNA from a set of 12 plots corresponding to four plant communities in alpine meadows, and, second, by conducting pilot experiments on fungi and earthworms. The results of the validation experiments clearly demonstrated that sound biological information can be retrieved when following these sampling and extraction procedures. Such a protocol can be implemented at any time of the year without any preliminary knowledge of specific types of organisms during the sampling. It offers the opportunity to analyse all groups of organisms using a single sampling/extraction procedure and opens the possibility to fully standardize biodiversity surveys.
Dysphagia after laparoscopic total fundoplication: anterior or posterior gastric wall fundoplication?

CONTEXT The occurrence of severe dysphagia after laparoscopic total fundoplication is currently an important factor associated with loss of quality of life in patients undergoing this modality of treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease. OBJECTIVES Compare the incidence and evaluate the causes of severe postoperative dysphagia in patients undergoing laparoscopic total fundoplication (LTF) without short gastric vessels division, using the anterior gastric wall (Rossetti LTF) or anterior and posterior gastric walls (Nissen LTF). METHODS Analysis of the data of 289 patients submitted to LTF without short gastric vessels division from January 2004 to January 2012, with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. Patients were divided in Group 1 (Rossetti LTF - n = 160) and Group 2 (Nissen LTF - n = 129). RESULTS The overall incidence of severe postoperative dysphagia was 3.11% (4.37% in group 1 and 1.55% in group 2; P = 0.169). The need for surgical treatment of dysphagia was 2.5% in group 1 and 0.78% in group 2 (= 0.264). Distortions of the fundoplication were identified as possible causes of the dysphagia in all patients taken to redo fundoplication after Rossetti LTF. No wrap distortion was seen in redo fundoplication after Nissen LTF. CONCLUSIONS The overall incidence of severe postoperative dysphagia did not differ on the reported techniques. Only Rossetti LTF was associated with structural distortion of the fundoplication that could justify the dysphagia.
Balance Assessment Practices and Use of Standardized Balance Measures Among Ontario Physical Therapists

Background Balance impairment is a significant problem for older adults, as it can influence daily functioning. Treating balance impairment in this population is a major focus of physical therapist practice. Objective The purpose of this study was to document current practices in clinical balance assessment and compare components of balance assessed and measures used across practice areas among physical therapists. Design This was a cross-sectional study. Methods A survey questionnaire was mailed to 1,000 practicing physical therapists in Ontario, Canada. Results Three hundred sixty-nine individuals completed the survey questionnaire. More than 80% of respondents reported that they regularly (more than 60% of the time) assessed postural alignment, static and dynamic stability, functional balance, and underlying motor systems. Underlying sensory systems, cognitive contributions to balance, and reactive control were regularly assessed by 59.6%, 55.0%, and 41.2% of the respondents, respectively. The standardized measures regularly used by the most respondents were the single-leg stance test (79.1%), the Berg Balance Scale (45.0%), and the Timed “Up & Go” Test (27.6%). There was considerable variation in the components of balance assessed and measures used by respondents treating individuals in the orthopedic, neurologic, geriatric, and general rehabilitation populations. Limitations The survey provides quantitative data about what is done to assess balance, but does not explain the factors influencing current practice. Conclusions Many important components of balance and standardized measures are regularly used by physical therapists to assess balance. Further research, however, is needed to understand the factors contributing to the relatively lower rates of assessing reactive control, the component of balance most directly responsible for avoiding a fall.
Exercise habits among patients with ankylosing spondylitis

Objective: This study aimed at evaluating exercise habits among patients with ankylosing spondylitis, their clinical status and what mainly restrains these patients from exercising. Methods: In a cross-sectional design study 189 patients completed a self-administrated questionnaire regarding their exercise habits and their clinical status. Results: A majority of the patients reported that they performed exercises. The most popular form of exercise was walking. Pool exercise was perceived to relieve the symptoms more than any other exercise and was also rated as the most enjoyable form of exercise. The main obstacle to exercise was lack of time, followed by fatigue. A small number of patients experienced aggravation of symptoms with exercise. Conclusion: A majority of AS patients exercise, although the frequency of the exercise was low for many patients. The main obstacle to exercise was lack of time and fatigue.