Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dietary patterns and risk of pancreatic cancer

To investigate associations between broad dietary patterns and pancreatic cancer risk, we conducted a case‐control study of 585 histologically confirmed pancreatic cancer cases and 4,779 population‐based controls in 8 Canadian provinces between 1994 and 1997. Dietary intake was assessed using a FFQ. Major dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis. Unconditional logistic regression was used to describe associations between dietary pattern scores and risk of pancreatic cancer. Three dietary patterns were identified: Western, characterized by high intake of processed meats, sweets and desserts, refined grains and potatoes; fruits and vegetables, characterized by high intake of fresh fruits and cruciferous vegetables; drinker, characterized by high consumption of liquor, wine and beer. After adjustment for age, BMI, smoking, physical activity, province, educational attainment and total energy intake, the fruits and vegetables pattern was associated with a 49% reduction in pancreatic risk among men (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.29–0.90, p = 0.004) when comparing the highest and lowest quartiles of dietary pattern scores. No significant relationship was observed with the Western and drinker patterns. Although the response rate for eligible, recruited subjects was relatively low, our results suggest that the fruits and vegetables dietary pattern reduces pancreatic cancer risk among men. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Timing of completed suicides among residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1951–1985

Previous studies of suicide timing may have been biased by incomplete ascertainment of suicides and by delays between the suicidal act and subsequent death. Those potential biases were assessed and minimized in this population‐based study by using the unique resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Using these more accurate data, we confirmed previous reports of no excess suicides on birthdays (± 3 days), or during 3 United States national holidays. While most prior reports found excess post‐holiday suicides and suicide peaks on Mondays, those findings were not observed in Olmsted County. Because 93% of deaths occurred on the date of the suicidal act, using date of death instead of the actual date of suicide is sufficient for most research purposes.
Alliance partners diversity for open innovation: The role of network position and external knowledge acquisition

This study advances the research on alliance partner diversity and the network perspective by examining how a firm's network position and external knowledge acquisition strategically shape the relation between alliance partner diversity and open innovation. Building on the knowledge-based and social capital theories, this study extends the model by hypothesizing that the ways in which alliance partner diversity drives open innovation from the central position of an interfirm open alliance network will be further moderated by the breadth and depth of external acquisition. Using an original large-scale survey of high-tech firms, the results support the expectation that the breadth of external acquisition facilitates the conjunctive effect of network centrality and alliance partner diversity; however, the depth of external acquisition mitigates the conjunctive effect of network centrality and alliance partner diversity on the deployment of firms' open innovation. This study's findings contribute to the theoretical development of open innovation as well as the development of alliance network practice.
Emotional contagion from followers to leaders, and its effect on leadership effectiveness and speed

Emotional contagion has been defined as a tendency to mimic the emotions and non-verbal expressions of others, thus becoming ‘infected’ with another’s emotional state. In an organisational context, emotional contagion has been examined from both a group and leadership perspective. Previous authors have examined emotional contagion from leaders to followers, but no study to date has examined emotional contagion from followers to leaders. In the present study, therefore, we examine the possibility that leaders could ‘catch’ emotions from their followers, and what implications this has for leadership capabilities. We found that leaders did catch both positive and negative from their followers, and that positive mood fully mediated the effect of follower’s mood on leadership effectiveness and speed.
Pre‐ and Postnatal Transplantation of Fetal Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Osteogenesis Imperfecta: A Two‐Center Experience

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) can be recognized prenatally with ultrasound. Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has the potential to ameliorate skeletal damage. We report the clinical course of two patients with OI who received prenatal human fetal MSC (hfMSC) transplantation and postnatal boosting with same‐donor MSCs. We have previously reported on prenatal transplantation for OI type III. This patient was retransplanted with 2.8 × 106 same‐donor MSCs per kilogram at 8 years of age, resulting in low‐level engraftment in bone and improved linear growth, mobility, and fracture incidence. An infant with an identical mutation who did not receive MSC therapy succumbed at 5 months despite postnatal bisphosphonate therapy. A second fetus with OI type IV was also transplanted with 30 × 106 hfMSCs per kilogram at 31 weeks of gestation and did not suffer any new fractures for the remainder of the pregnancy or during infancy. The patient followed her normal growth velocity until 13 months of age, at which time longitudinal length plateaued. A postnatal infusion of 10 × 106 MSCs per kilogram from the same donor was performed at 19 months of age, resulting in resumption of her growth trajectory. Neither patient demonstrated alloreactivity toward the donor hfMSCs or manifested any evidence of toxicities after transplantation. Our findings suggest that prenatal transplantation of allogeneic hfMSCs in OI appears safe and is of likely clinical benefit and that retransplantation with same‐donor cells is feasible. However, the limited experience to date means that it is not possible to be conclusive and that further studies are required.
The Nitric Oxide Synthase/ Nitric Oxide and Heme Oxygenase/ Carbon Monoxide Pathways in the Human Ureter

Objective: To investigate the nitric oxide synthase (NOS)/nitric oxide (NO) and heme oxygenase (HO)/carbon monoxide (CO) pathways in the human isolated ureter. Methods: Immunohistochemical studies were performed. NOS activity was measured by monitoring the converison of [3H]-arginine to [3H]-citrulline. Functional inhibitory effects mediated by NO and CO were assessed, and correlated with cyclic nucleotide levels. Results: The overall innervation of the ureter was moderate, however more prominent in the distal segment. Relative to overall innervation, neuronal NOS-immunoreactive (-IR) nerves were few. In the submucosa, neuronal NOS-IR varicose nerves were found closely together with varicose nerves containing calcitonin gene-related peptide immunoreactivity. In the distal ureter, nerve trunks were demonstrated, expressing immunoreactivity for HO-2. Ca2+-dependent NOS activity was 53 ± 13 pM/mg protein/h. In isolated preparations, NO decreased endothelin-1-induced contractions in a concentration-dependent manner. In strips exposed to NO, there was a 6-fold increase of the cyclic GMP levels in comparison to control preparations (p < 0.001). CO exerted no effect on induced ureteral tone. Conclusions: Neuronal NOS- and HO-2-IR nerves can be demonstrated in the human ureter, where NO, but probably not CO, may contribute to the regulation of tone. Although the physiological roles for NO and CO remain to be established, the NOS/NO/cyclic GMP pathway may be a target for drugs producing relaxation of the human ureter. The richer innervation of the distal ureter may be of importance for the coordination of ureteral peristalsis and the motility of the ureterovesical junction.
A Model of Mourning: Change in Schemas of Self and Other

The mourning process may serve an evolutionary purpose, one that has allowed maximum survival characteristics. By passage through the phases of grief, the bereaved person prepares to make new commitments to others and to accept new personal roles. This passage involves an unconscious change in mental structures of meanings about the self and other people. This paper examines mourning in terms of such person schemas.
Do People Know Adequately about Leptospirosis? A Knowledge Assessment Survey in Post-outbreak Situation in Sri Lanka

Objectives: Sri Lanka experienced the worst ever outbreak of leptospirosis in 2008. One major determinant of control and prevention of communicable diseases is public awareness on the disease. The purpose of the present study was to determine the awareness on leptospirosis among public Sri Lanka. Methods: A national household survey was carried out as a part of research methodology training of first year medical undergraduates in Rajarata Medical School. Each student visited 10 households surrounding his/her house to complete the interviewer administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on the factsheet published by the Epidemiology Unit for public health. Results: Altogether 602 participants from 14 districts participated in the study. Of them 93.7% were aware of rat as a reservoir animal, but only 3% were aware of the role of cattle and buffalo. Contact with infected water as a mode of transmission was reported by 57.9% of the population. Only 30.8% of the subjects were aware of that the infection can go through skin breeches. Farming as a risk activity was reported by 63.5% of the patients, but knowledge on other exposure activities were less than 20%. Paddy field work and cleaning garbage were correctly identified as risk occupations by 89.7% and 27.6% of the sample, respectively. Respondents were aware of fever (86%), malaise (30.8%), headache (29.6%) and muscle tenderness (28.8%) as main clinical features of the disease. Most of them (73.7%) knew leptospirosis as a lethal condition and 39.5% were aware of chemoprophylaxis. Conclusions: Although there is not adequate information on MDD prevalence in some areas of Iran, the overall current prevalence of MDD in the country is high and females are at the greater risk of disease.
Contemporary Management of Cardiogenic Shock: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

Cardiogenic shock is a high-acuity, potentially complex, and hemodynamically diverse state of end-organ hypoperfusion that is frequently associated with multisystem organ failure. Despite improving survival in recent years, patient morbidity and mortality remain high, and there are few evidence-based therapeutic interventions known to clearly improve patient outcomes. This scientific statement on cardiogenic shock summarizes the epidemiology, pathophysiology, causes, and outcomes of cardiogenic shock; reviews contemporary best medical, surgical, mechanical circulatory support, and palliative care practices; advocates for the development of regionalized systems of care; and outlines future research priorities.
Effects of low‐velocity fault zones on dynamic ruptures with nonelastic off‐fault response

Using a finite element method for elastoplastic dynamic analysis, we examine the effects of a low‐velocity fault zone (LVFZ) surrounding a fault on a spontaneous dynamic earthquake rupture. A Mohr‐Coulomb failure criterion is used to characterize nonelastic off‐fault response to earthquake ruptures. We find that the presence of a LVFZ alters the distribution of off‐fault plastic strain and results in larger final slip and larger peak slip velocities on the fault. These effects show a LVFZ‐width dependency. A supershear (relative to the shear wave velocity of country rocks) rupture transition is observed with a LVFZ width of 400 m or larger (up to 2 km). The presence of a LVFZ increases the amplitude of ground shaking at stations within the LVFZ and induces high‐frequency oscillations at stations within and near the LVFZ.
Posture and Lumbar Puncture Headache: A Controlled Trial in 50 Patients

A prospective single blind trial in 50 patients was performed to investigate the effect of posture on post lumbar puncture headache (LPH). A difference between the frequency of headache at five hours between the two groups (prone for four hours, versus 30° head down tilt for 30 minutes followed by supine posture for 3 1/2 hours) did not reach significance. These findings do not support the suggestion that a prone posture, by possibly reducing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, significantly reduces the frequency of this common clinical problem. The value of bed rest after lumbar puncture remains equivocal. Other methods used for reducing LPH are reviewed.
3D ShapeNets for 2.5D Object Recognition and Next-Best-View Prediction

3D shape is a crucial but heavily underutilized cue in today's computer vision systems, mostly due to the lack of a good generic shape representation. With the recent availability of inexpensive 2.5D depth sensors (e.g. Microsoft Kinect), it is becoming increasingly important to have a powerful 3D shape representation in the loop. Apart from category recognition, recovering full 3D shapes from view-based 2.5D depth maps is also a critical part of visual understanding. To this end, we propose to represent a geometric 3D shape as a probability distribution of binary variables on a 3D voxel grid, using a Convolutional Deep Belief Network. Our model, 3D ShapeNets, learns the distribution of complex 3D shapes across different object categories and arbitrary poses from raw CAD data, and discovers hierarchical compositional part representations automatically. It naturally supports joint object recognition and shape completion from 2.5D depth maps, and it enables active object recognition through view planning. To train our 3D deep learning model, we construct ModelNet -- a large-scale 3D CAD model dataset. Extensive experiments show that our 3D deep representation enables significant performance improvement over the-state-of-the-arts in a variety of tasks.
Demographic, Clinical, and Immunologic Features of 389 Children with Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome: A Cross-sectional Study

Pediatric-onset opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a devastating neuroinflammatory, often paraneoplastic, disorder. The objective was to characterize demographic, clinical, and immunologic aspects in the largest cohort reported to date. Cross-sectional data were collected on 389 children in an IRB-approved, observational study at the National Pediatric Myoclonus Center. Non-parametric statistical analysis was used. OMS manifested in major racial/ethnic groups, paralleling US population densities. Median onset age was 1.5 years (1.2–2 interquartile range), inclusive of infants (14%), toddlers (61%), and youngsters (25%). The higher female sex ratio of 1.2 was already evident in toddlers. Time to diagnosis was 1.2 months (0.7–3); to treatment, 1.4 months (0.4–4). Irritability/crying dominated prodromal symptomatology (60%); overt infections in <35%. Acute cerebellar ataxia was the most common misdiagnosis; staggering appeared earliest among 10 ranked neurological signs (P < 0.0001). Some untreated youngsters had no words (33%) or sentences (73%). Remote neuroblastic tumors were detected in 50%; resection was insufficient OMS treatment (58%). Age at tumor diagnosis related to tumor type (P = 0.004) and stage (P = 0.002). A novel observation was that paraneoplastic frequency varied with patient age—not a mere function of the frequency of neuroblastoma, which was lowest in the first 6 months of life, when that of neuroblastoma without OMS was highest. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leukocyte count was minimally elevated in 14% (≤11/mm3) with normal differential, and commercially screened serum autoantibodies were negative, but CSF oligoclonal bands (OCB) and B cells frequency were positive (58 and 93%). Analysis of patients presenting on immunotherapy revealed a shift in physician treatment practice patterns from monotherapy toward multi-agent immunotherapy (P < 0.001); the number of agents/sequences varied. In sum, a major clinical challenge is to increase OMS recognition, prevent initial misdiagnosis, and shorten time to diagnosis/treatment. The index of suspicion for an underlying tumor must remain high despite symptoms of infection. The disparity in onset age of neuroblastoma frequency with that of neuroblastoma with OMS warrants further studies of potential host/tumor factors. OMS neuroinflammation is best diagnosed by CSF OCB and B cells, not by routine CSF or commercial antibody studies.
Beneficial Hematologic Effects of Daily Oral Ascorbic Acid Therapy in ESRD Patients with Anemia and Abnormal Iron Homeostasis: A Preliminary Study

Aim. To determine the efficacy and effects of the oral administration of ascorbic acid on anemia management in ESRD patients with hyperferritinemia. Methods. Twenty-one anemic hemodialysis patients with ferritin levels greater than 350 ng/mL had received oral daily ascorbic acid at a dose of 500 mg/day and were retrospectively studied. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, EPO dose, ferritin, and transferrin saturation were recorded at baseline and after three months of treatment. EPO dose/hematocrit was calculated. Serum oxalate levels were also measured. Results. Hb increased 9% from 11.4 to 12.2 gm/dL (p = 0.05), HCT increased 10% from 33.3 to 36.7% (p = 0.05), but EPO dose requirement decreased 33% from 26,229 to 17,559 U/week (p = 0.03). Ferritin levels decreased 21% from 873 to 691 ng/mL (p = 0.004). Mean oxalate level during therapy was 87 umol/L (normal <27). Patients with oxalate levels >27 umol/L were instructed to stop ascorbic acid treatment, and mean levels decreased from 107 to 19 umol/L (p = 0.01) over a mean time of 71 days. Conclusion. In this study, daily oral ascorbic therapy decreased ferritin levels and EPO dose requirements while raising hemoglobin and hematocrit level. This beneficial profile of effects of ascorbic acid therapy is consistent with improvement of EPO resistance and cost savings in this population.
High‐fat feeding alters the clock synchronization to light

High‐fat feeding in rodents leads to metabolic abnormalities mimicking the human metabolic syndrome, including obesity and insulin resistance. These metabolic diseases are associated with altered temporal organization of many physiological functions. The master circadian clock located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei controls most physiological functions and metabolic processes. Furthermore, under certain conditions of feeding (hypocaloric diet), metabolic cues are capable of altering the suprachiasmatic clock's responses to light. To determine whether high‐fat feeding (hypercaloric diet) can also affect resetting properties of the suprachiasmatic clock, we investigated photic synchronization in mice fed a high‐fat or chow (low‐fat) diet for 3 months, using wheel‐running activity and body temperature rhythms as daily phase markers (i.e. suprachiasmatic clock's hands). Compared with the control diet, mice fed with the high‐fat diet exhibited increased body mass index, hyperleptinaemia, higher blood glucose, and increased insulinaemia. Concomitantly, high‐fat feeding led to impaired adjustment to local time by photic resetting. At the behavioural and physiological levels, these alterations include slower rate of re‐entrainment of behavioural and body temperature rhythms after ‘jet‐lag’ test (6 h advanced light–dark cycle) and reduced phase‐advancing responses to light. At a molecular level, light‐induced phase shifts have been correlated, within suprachiasmatic cells, with a high induction of c‐FOS, the protein product of immediate early gene c‐fos, and phosphorylation of the extracellular signal‐regulated kinases I/II (P‐ERK). In mice fed a high‐fat diet, photic induction of both c‐FOS and P‐ERK in the suprachiasmatic nuclei was markedly reduced. Taken together, the present data demonstrate that high‐fat feeding modifies circadian synchronization to light.
Better Health Explorer: Designing for Health Information Seekers

A vast amount of health information has been published online, yet users often report difficulties in locating information in this particular domain. Based on our prior research, we consider four categories of online health information seekers who demonstrate mixed information needs. Although their searching needs are often well satisfied by entering keywords into search engines, their need to explore information is not so well supported, thus affecting their user experience and satisfaction. In this paper, we propose design principles for supporting the exploration of online health information. We present the rationale and the design process of a web app -- Better Health Explorer -- which is a proof-of-concept app tailored to health information exploration. This work contributes to the design of online health information systems as well as exploratory systems in general.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in empyema of gall bladder: An experience at Liaquat University Hospital, Jamshoro, Pakistan

Objective: To find out the safety profile of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in empyema of gallbladder. Background: Empyema of gall bladder is a severe form of acute cholecystitis with superadded suppuration. It has been considered a contraindication for the laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) because of fear of life-threatening complications. This study aimed to determine the safety and feasibility of LC in empyema of gallbladder. Materials and Methods: LC was attempted in 67 patients of empyema of gallbladder within 24h. However in few cases there was a delay because of reluctance for surgery or delay in giving consent etc. The procedure was performed by standard four-port technique with few changes made to facilitate dissection according to situation. Results: Between April 2003 to June 2006, 970 LC performed for gallstone disease at surgical unit-1 of LUMHS by the same surgical team. Among these, 67 (6.90%) patients were diagnosed to have empyema gall bladder. LC successfully completed in 54 (80.59%) patients. In 13 (19.40%) patients the procedure was converted to open cholecystectomy (OC) due to various operative difficulties of which the most serious injuries included bleeding from cystic artery (four cases), common bile duct injury (two cases) and duodenal injury in one case. Maximum operating time was up to 160 minutes (one case). Postoperative complications occurred in 10 (18.51%) successfully operated patients. Maximum patients (n=45, 83.33%) were discharged in 48-96 hours while three patients were discharged after two weeks. Conclusion: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed in empyema of gallbladder keeping in mind a slightly increased risk of complications even in the best hands. However, the experience of the surgeon plays a key role in the overall outcome.