Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Locoregional control of clinically diagnosed multifocal or multicentric breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and locoregional therapy.

PURPOSE The purpose was to assess whether patients with clinical multifocal or multicentric (MFMC) breast cancer determined by mammogram, ultrasound, or physical examination have inferior outcome compared with patients with clinical unicentric lesions. PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 706 consecutive patients with stages I-III breast cancer treated at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX) from 1976 to 2003 who received neoadjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy followed by breast conservation therapy (BCT), mastectomy alone, or mastectomy plus postmastectomy radiation therapy. RESULTS The mean follow-up was 66 months. At presentation, 97 of 706 patients had clinically MFMC disease (13.7%). The 5-year rate of locoregional failure was 10% for unicentric disease compared with 7% for MFMC disease (P = .78). Subset analyses of patients by treatment groups confirmed no statistical difference in locoregional control regardless of the type of locoregional treatment. Among patients with multifocal disease treated with BCT, there were no in-breast recurrences and one supraclavicular recurrence. Five-year disease-free survival and overall survival was equivalent between patients with MFMC and unicentric breast cancers. CONCLUSION Patients with clinical MFMC breast cancer at the time of diagnosis treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by locoregional therapy have similar 5-year rates of locoregional control, disease-free survival, and overall survival as those with unicentric disease. Clinically detected MFMC disease did not predict for inferior outcome.
Do Risk Simulations Lead to Persistently Better Investment Decisions

Risk simulations based on experience sampling were found to significantly improve initial investment decisions. We analyze the advantages and limitations of risk simulations in a setting in which investors can adjust their investment strategy before the end of the investment horizon. Our experimental results underscore the positive effects of risk simulations on investors’ understanding of the risk-return trade-off. Furthermore, we find that investors who are informed via description require multiple investment periods until they show stable average risk-taking behavior and similar allocations to the risky asset as investors informed via risk simulations. We do not find any effects of initial simulation-based learning on investors’ trading volume or trading behavior with regard to previous investment outcomes.
Validation of a 3-Dimensional Laser Body Scanner for Assessment of Waist and Hip Circumference

Objectives: To evaluate the reliability and validity of a 3-dimensional laser body scanner for estimation of waist and hip circumferences and waist:hip ratio. Methods: Seventy women were evaluated for waist and hip circumference and waist∶hip ratio via laser scanner and tape measure. In a subset of 34 participants, 8 repeated measures of laser scanning were performed for reproducibility analysis. Validity of the instrument was assessed by regression and Bland-Altman comparison of measures of waist and hip circumferences and waist∶hip ratio to tape measure. Results: Reproducibility analysis showed little difference between within-subjects measurements of circumferences (intraclass correlation coefficient ≥0.992, p < 0.01). Evaluation of waist and hip circumferences measured by body scanning did not differ significantly from tape measure (p > 0.05). Bland-Altman analysis showed no bias between laser scanning and tape measure. Conclusion: These findings indicate that the 3-dimensional laser body scanner is a reliable and valid technique for the estimation of waist and hip circumferences as compared with tape measure. This instrument is promising as a quick and simple method of body circumference analysis.
A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase IIB clinical trial of repeated application of gene therapy in patients with cystic fibrosis

The UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium has been working towards clinical gene therapy for patients with cystic fibrosis for several years. We have recently embarked on a large, multi-dose clinical trial of a non-viral, liposome-based formulation powered for the first time to detect clinical benefit. The article describes the details of the protocol.
[Body mass index in the school age children and youth from the city of Lodz].

UNLABELLED Excessive body mass in children and youth constitutes each year a more increasing problem in our country. Early diagnosis based on current appropriate norms and recommendations of main pediatric and scientific societies appears to be of great importance. THE AIM OF THE STUDY Percentile distribution of body mass index (BMI) for children and adolescents (aged 7-19 years) dwelling in Lodz were constructed and compared with the norms included in the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) project. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 26,542 children and adolescents (13,358 girls and 13,184 boys) participated in the study. Measurements of basic anthropometric parameters were performed and BMI determined in all the subjects. The LMS method was used to construct the BMI percentile distributions. Sex dimorphism of the BMI as well as the differences between the border values of BMI distribution for children from Lodz and the IOTF norms were analysed. RESULTS The children from Lodz, particularly girls, reveal significantly lower BMI values defining obesity (c95) as compared to the IOTF norms. The maximal difference concerned 18-year-old girls and was 2.62 kg/m2 (9.1%). BMI values indicating overweight in the Lodz children (c85) were more similar to the international norms of IOTF (maximal difference around 5%). CONCLUSIONS The results confirm justifiability of using a local norm as a criterion for evaluation of obesity at the developmental age. Application of the IOTF norms in the assessment of obesity prevalence in children and youth in Poland may be associated with a considerable underestimation of this problem.
Criteria help hospitals evaluate vendor proposals.

: A healthcare organization that is acquiring an information system should use a comprehensive selection process that starts with an assessment of its needs. A hospital in Massachusetts developed a list of criteria to review vendors. The vendors were ranked based on how they scored on the weighted criteria. The rankings enabled the hospital's leadership team to select a vendor that best met the institution's needs.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE OF LISTED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The global financial crisis of 2008 that resulted in the collapse of many financial institutions in the United States (US) and Europe have resulted in debates over the failures of corporate governance structures to properly protect investors. The main objective of the study was to determine the relationship between corporate governance and performance of listed commercial banks in South Africa. The results of the study indicated a statistically positive significant relationship between board size, proportion of non-independent and non-executive directors and bank performance. The results of the rest of the corporate governance indicators are mixed when using different performance measurement variables.
Does Outsourcing Improve Quality of Service in Public Healthcare Institutions in South-East Nigeria?

The purpose of this exploratory research was to investigate the effect of outsourcing security, cleaning, and laundry services on the quality of the outsourced services and, by implication, the quality of healthcare services delivered by federal healthcare institutions in South-East Nigeria. A self-designed survey instrument was distributed to a sample of 303 permanent staff of the institutions (the internal customers of the service providers), and 162 usable copies of the questionnaire were retrieved, representing 54 per cent response rate. From the data analysis 66.9 per cent of the respondents perceived improvement in the quality of security services; 69.1 per cent of the respondents perceived improvements in the quality of cleaning services; and 65.8 per cent of the respondents perceived improvements in the quality of laundry services since the services were outsourced in the institutions. These responses show that outsourcing led to improvements in the quality of all the outsourced services. And being inputs in the healthcare delivery process, improvements in the quality of these services suggest improvements in the quality of healthcare services offered by these institutions. The result of this study justifies the decision to outsource the services, and encourages public organisations to outsource non-core activities as a strategy towards improving the quality of their service delivery.
The metabolism of pyrene by rat liver microsomes and the influence of various mono-oxygenase inducers.

1. Pyrene metabolite g.l. c. profiles were recorded and metabolites identified by mass spectrometry. 2. Pyrene is metabolized by liver microsomes of untreated rats to 1-hydroxypyrene, 4,5-dihydroxy-4,5-dihydropyrene, two different diphenols and a triol, tentatively identified as 1,4,5-trihydroxy-4,5-dihydropyrene. 3. Pretreatment with phenobarbital or polychlorinated biphenyls favours oxidation at the K-region, whereas cytochrome P-448 inducers stimulate oxidation at the non-K-region of pyrene. 4. 1-Hydroxypyrene does not inhibit pyrene oxidation. 5. Pyrene diphenols are formed by secondary oxidation of 1-hydroxypyrene. 6. Triols are formed from dihydrodiols by secondary oxidation.
The Differential Transcription Network between Embryo and Endosperm in the Early Developing Maize Seed1[C][W][OA]

Transcriptomic analysis of maize seed soon after pollination aids understanding of how maize embryo and endosperm are differentially regulated in the early development stage. Transcriptome analysis of early-developing maize (Zea mays) seed was conducted using Illumina sequencing. We mapped 11,074,508 and 11,495,788 paired-end reads from endosperm and embryo, respectively, at 9 d after pollination to define gene structure and alternative splicing events as well as transcriptional regulators of gene expression to quantify transcript abundance in both embryo and endosperm. We identified a large number of novel transcribed regions that did not fall within maize annotated regions, and many of the novel transcribed regions were tissue-specifically expressed. We found that 50.7% (8,556 of 16,878) of multiexonic genes were alternatively spliced, and some transcript isoforms were specifically expressed either in endosperm or in embryo. In addition, a total of 46 trans-splicing events, with nine intrachromosomal events and 37 interchromosomal events, were found in our data set. Many metabolic activities were specifically assigned to endosperm and embryo, such as starch biosynthesis in endosperm and lipid biosynthesis in embryo. Finally, a number of transcription factors and imprinting genes were found to be specifically expressed in embryo or endosperm. This data set will aid in understanding how embryo/endosperm development in maize is differentially regulated.
Examining Resource Redeployment in Multi-Business Firms

Abstract This paper introduces the volume on Resource Redeployment and Corporate Strategy, which is devoted to exploring a relatively new justification for how multi-business firms create value – having flexibility to internally redistribute non-financial resources across their businesses. We clarify how a theory around resource flexibility differs from other theories of how multi-business firms create value. We then synthesize the collection of papers in this volume and describe how they contribute to this line of inquiry. Finally, we offer our own views on opportunities for elaboration of this theory.
Thymosin Beta‐4 Knockdown in IEC‐6 Normal Intestinal Epithelial Cells Induces DNA Re‐replication Via Downregulating Emi1

Thymosin β4 (Tβ4) is a multifunctional protein already used clinically to treat various diseases; however, the promoting effect of this protein on tumor malignancy should not be neglected. Here, we assessed whether Tβ4 alteration influences normal intestinal epithelial cells because Tβ4 is deemed a novel target for treating colorectal cancer (CRC). For this purpose, we examined the consequences of shRNA‐mediated knockdown of Tβ4 in IEC‐6 normal rat small intestinal cells and found that inhibiting Tβ4 expression significantly suppressed their growth and induced apoptosis in some cells. Flow cytometric analysis further revealed a marked decrease of G0/G1 population but a drastic increase of polyploid ones in these cells. The increase of polyploidy likely resulted from DNA re‐replication because not only the de novo DNA synthesis was greatly increased but also the expression levels of Cdc6 (a replication‐licensing factor), cyclin A, and phosphorylated‐checkpoint kinase 1 were all dramatically elevated. Moreover, marked reductions in both RNA and protein levels of Emi1 (early mitotic inhibitor 1) were also detected in Tβ4‐downregulated IEC‐6 cells which might be accounted by the downregulation of E2F1, a transcription factor capable of inducing Emi1 expression, mediated by glycogen synthase‐3β (GSK‐3β). To our best knowledge, this is the first report showing that inhibiting Tβ4 expression triggers DNA re‐replication in normal intestinal epithelial cells, suggesting that this G‐actin sequester may play a crucial role in maintaining genome stability in these cells. More importantly, clinical oncologists should take this novel activity into consideration when design CRC therapy based on targeting Tβ4. J. Cell. Physiol. 229: 1639–1646, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sensory deficit and the risk of pedestrian injury.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between sensory deficit and the risk of child pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions. SETTING: The Auckland region of New Zealand. METHODS: A community based case-control study was conducted. Cases (n = 190) were all children (< 15 years) killed or hospitalised as a result of a pedestrian injury occurring on a public road between 1 January 1992 and 1 March 1994. Controls (n = 479) were a random sample of the child population. RESULTS: The risk of pedestrian injury for children whose parents reported abnormal vision was over four times that of children with reported normal vision (odds ratio = 4.25, 95% confidence interval 1.68 to 10.8). The risk of injury for children whose parents reported abnormal hearing was close to twice that of children with reported normal hearing (odds ratio = 1.73, 95% confidence interval 0.83 to 3.61). CONCLUSIONS: Children with sensory deficits constitute a high risk group for pedestrian injuries. Paediatricians caring for children with sensory impairments should be aware of this increased risk.
WiFi indoor positioning algorithm based on machine learning

The time-varying Received Signal Strength (RSS) drastically reduces the correlation between signals and location information, which leads to degrade the indoor positioning accuracy in WiFi. And the kernel selection of Support Vector Regression (SVR) is limited by the Mercer theorem, it has a negative influence on the regressive result. In this paper, a new positioning algorithm based on Kernel Direct Discriminant Analysis (KDDA) and Relevance Vector Regression (RVR) is proposed to resolve these problems. The proposed algorithm employs KDDA to reconstruct the localization information contained in the RSS readings. The most discriminative localization features are then extracted while the redundant localization features and noise are discarded by KDDA. The extracted localization features are taken as inputs to RVR learning machine and the mapping between localization features and physical locations is established. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm obtains more significant accuracy improvement than existing WKNN methods and KDDA-SVR algorithm.
Discharge planning scale: community physicians' perspective.

BACKGROUND Adverse events occur when patients transition from hospital to outpatient care. For quality improvement and research purposes, clinicians need appropriate, reliable, and valid survey instruments to measure and improve discharge processes. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to validate the Modified Physician-PREPARED scale to measure qualities of hospital discharge from the outpatient physician perspective. Descriptions include item development and psychometric properties. METHODS The design was a postal survey of outpatient physicians/practitioners who followed 403 patients who were discharged from hospital to home. We mailed questionnaires 10 days after discharge. Questionnaire items assessed perceptions of quality and outcome of discharge planning and communication. Analysis yielded the Modified Physician-PREPARED scale value: the sum of scores from 8 items. Internal consistency and construct validity were assessed. RESULTS Survey response rate was 76%. Mean Modified Physician-PREPARED scale value was 16.6 +/- 4.0 with range 8 to 24. High scores reflected high perceptions of discharge quality. Analysis identified 2 principal components: timeliness of communication, and adequacy of discharge plan/transmission. The scale had acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.86) and construct validity. When considering the discharge planning and communication for a specific patient, outpatient primary care physicians reported higher scores when they were involved in the discharge planning (P < 0.001) and when they were aware of community support services (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS The Modified Physician-PREPARED scale measured outpatient physician perceptions of quality of hospital discharge to home. Clinicians and researchers may find the scale useful to evaluate discharge processes.
Percutaneous Tracheostomy: Don't Beat Them, Join Them

Objectives: The introduction of percutaneous tracheostomy (PercTrach) has resulted in tension over the scope of practice between otolaryngologists and pulmonary/critical care (PCC) specialists. We sought to determine the value of a collaborative approach to the performance of PercTrach at the bedside in the intensive care unit setting.
On Optimal Weighted Balanced Clusterings: Gravity Bodies and Power Diagrams

We study weighted clustering problems in Minkowski spaces under balancing constraints with a view towards separation properties. First, we introduce the gravity polytopes and more general gravity bodies that encode all feasible clusterings and indicate how they can be utilized to develop efficient approximation algorithms for quite general, hard to compute objective functions. Then we show that their extreme points correspond to strongly feasible power diagrams, certain specific cell complexes, whose defining polyhedra contain the clusters, respectively. Further, we characterize strongly feasible centroidal power diagrams in terms of the local optima of some ellipsoidal function over the gravity polytope. The global optima can also be characterized in terms of the separation properties of the corresponding clusterings.
Bronchoalveolar galactomannan in invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: a prospective study in pediatric patients.

BACKGROUND Elevations in the number of immunocompromised patients in the past decade has lead to progressive increase in the incidence of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis (IPA) among children; however, early diagnosis remains a challenge. Detection of galactomannan (GM) in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid appears to possess higher sensitivity and specificity than serum in immunocompromised adult patients but, it rarely has been investigated in pediatric patients. METHODS We performed a prospective case-control study to evaluate the efficacy of BAL GM in immunocompromised pediatric patients. Cases were subjects fulfilling the host factor criteria as defined by the EORTC/MSG and met established definitions for proven or probable IPA. Control group was patients with possible IPA in whom diagnoses other than IPA were confirmed and patients without risk factors of IPA who underwent bronchoscopy for other diagnostic purpose. Galactomannan testing was performed on BAL fluid samples using platelia Aspergillus seroassay. RESULTS Sixteen cases of IPA (4 proven, 12 probable) and 54 controls (6 possible IPA and 48 no IPA) were documented according to EORTC/MSG definitions. The sensitivity and positive predictive values of BAL GM using an OD index of ≥0.5 were 87.5% and 93.33% respectively. We found seven cases of IPA with negative serum GM while their BAL GM was positive. CONCLUSION We found high diagnostic value of BAL GM in immunocompromised pediatric patients with IPA. The lower OD index is necessary in children to avoid missing the cases of IPA in children.
Intermedia agenda-setting in a multimedia news environment

This article analyzes intermedia agenda-setting processes during a national election campaign of 38 newspapers, online news sites, TV news programs, as well as a wire service, through semi-automatic content analysis and time series analysis. The theoretical assumption was that intermedia agenda-setting is determined by the production structures of certain media types, the opinion-leader role of specific media outlets, and issue-specific characteristics. The findings suggest that, despite previous evidence to the contrary, intermedia agenda-setting also occurs during election campaigns, with a short time lag of 1 day. Additionally, a medium’s opinion-leader role depends strongly on issue-specific characteristics, such as obtrusiveness and proximity, mediating the intermedia agenda-setting process. And the traditional role of print media as intermedia agenda-setters is found to be challenged by online news sites.
Factors associated with response to methylphenidate in advanced cancer patients.

BACKGROUND There has been increasing interest in the use of methylphenidate for cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in patients with advanced cancer. However, there is limited literature on the specific patient characteristics associated with response to methylphenidate. Our objective of this study was to identify the specific patient characteristics associated with response to methylphenidate and to compare day 1 response with day 8 response. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients in two prospective controlled clinical trials that we had conducted who had received methylphenidate for cancer-related fatigue. Baseline patient characteristics, symptoms (as assessed by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System [ESAS] and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue [FACIT-F]), and response (change in fatigue) at the end of day 1 treatment were analyzed to determine their association with response to methylphenidate on day 8. RESULTS A total of 82 patients with advanced cancer who received methylphenidate for CRF were included in our review. The median age was 55 years, 66% were female, 74% were white, and the most common cancer type was breast (37%). Fifty out of 82 patients (61%) responded to methylphenidate (≥ 7 points in FACIT-F). The intensity of baseline fatigue positively correlated with the response to methylphenidate (p < .001). Change in fatigue in response to methylphenidate was not associated with intensity of baseline depression, anxiety, drowsiness, or daily opioid dose. Better improvement of fatigue after treatment on day 1 was associated with more improvement with fatigue on day 8 as assessed by FACIT-F (p = .0004) and ESAS (p = .0001). Day 1 response as a predictor of day 8 response had a sensitivity of 0.84, a positive predictive value of 0.67, and specificity of 0.6. CONCLUSIONS Response to methylphenidate is associated with higher baseline fatigue but not with higher baseline depression or sedation. Additionally, day 1 improvement is highly sensitive as a predictor of long-term improvement.