Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Language Development, Hearing Loss, and Intracranial Hypertension in Children With TWIST1-Confirmed Saethre-Chotzen Syndrome.

Saethre-Chotzen syndrome (SCS) is an autosomal dominant condition defined by mutations affecting the TWIST1 gene on chromosome 7p21.1. Previous research has identified an elevated prevalence of intracranial hypertension and hearing impairment associated with this syndrome. This study aimed to investigate the influence of hearing history and presence of intracranial hypertension on language development in children with SCS.A retrospective study note analysis was performed for all patients with a confirmed TWIST1 gene abnormality who attended the Oxford Craniofacial Unit and underwent a language assessment over a 22-year period. Intracranial pressure monitoring, hearing status, and language outcomes were examined in detail.Thirty patients with genetically confirmed SCS and language assessment data were identified. Twenty-eight patients underwent surgical intervention; 10 presented with intracranial hypertension (5 prior to, and 5 after primary surgical intervention). Language data coinciding with the presentation of intracranial hypertension were available for 8 children. About 44% of children with intracranial hypertension presented with concurrent receptive and expressive language delay (n = 4/8). For both children (n = 2) with longitudinal language data available, the onset of intracranial hypertension reflected a concurrent decline in language skills. Audiometric data were available for 25 children, 80% (n = 20/25) had a history of hearing loss. About 50% of these had confirmed conductive hearing loss with middle ear effusion and the other 50% had presumed conductive hearing loss with middle ear effusion. About 100% of the children with available hearing data in our study had evidence of middle ear effusion in at least 1 ear. Results also indicated that 43% (n = 13/30) of the children presented with receptive and/or expressive language delay during childhood.Given the importance of hearing for language development and the preliminary findings of a potential decline in language skills in children during periods of intracranial hypertension, regular follow-up of hearing, language, and intracranial hypertension are indicated in children with SCS.
Closing the Achievement Gap in a Large Introductory Course by Balancing Reduced In-Person Contact with Increased Course Structure

Hybrid and online courses are gaining attention as alternatives to traditional face-to-face classes. In addition to the pedagogical flexibility afforded by alternative formats, these courses also appeal to campuses aiming to maximize classroom space. The literature, however, reports conflicting results regarding the effect of hybrid and online courses on student learning. We designed, taught, and assessed a fully online course (100% online) and a hybrid-and-flipped course (50% online 50% face-to-face) and compared those formats with a lecture-based face-to-face course. The three formats also varied in the degree of structure; the hybrid course was the most structured and the face-to-face course was the least structured. All three courses were taught by the same instructor in a large Hispanic-serving research university. We found that exam scores for all students were lowest in the face-to-face course. Hispanic and Black students had higher scores in the hybrid format compared with online and face-to-face, while white students had the highest performance in the online format. We conclude that a hybrid course format with high structure can improve exam performance for traditionally underrepresented students, closing the achievement gap even while in-person contact hours are reduced.
Experimental Therapeutics , Molecular Targets , and Chemical Biology Radioimmunotherapy of Breast Cancer Metastases with α-Particle Emitter 225 Ac : Comparing Efficacy with 213 Bi and 90 Y

α-Particles are suitable to treat cancer micrometastases because of their short range and very high linear energy transfer. α-Particle emitter Bi-based radioimmunotherapy has shown efficacy in a variety of metastatic animal cancer models, such as breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers. Its clinical implementation, however, is challenging due to the limited supply of Ac, high technical requirement to prepare radioimmunoconjugate with very short half-life (T1/2 = 45.6 min) on site, and prohibitive cost. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of the α-particle emitter Ac, parent of Bi, in a mouse model of breast cancer metastases. A single administration of Ac (400 nCi)–labeled anti-rat HER-2/neumonoclonal antibody (7.16.4) completely eradicated breast cancer lung micrometastases in ∼67% of HER-2/neu transgenic mice and led to long-term survival of these mice for up to 1 year. Treatment with Ac-7.16. 4 is significantlymore effective than Bi-7.16. 4 (120 μCi; median survival, 61 days; P = 0.001) and Y-7.16. 4 (120 μCi; median survival, 50 days; P < 0.001) as well as untreated control (median survival, 41 days; P < 0.0001). Dosimetric analysis showed that Ac-treated metastases received a total dose of 9.6 Gy, significantly higher than 2.0 Gy from Bi and 2.4 Gy from Y. Biodistribution studies revealed that Ac daughters, Fr and Bi, accumulated in kidneys and probably contributed to the long-term renal toxicity observed in surviving mice. These data suggest Ac-labeled anti–HER-2/neu monoclonal antibody could significantly prolong survival in HER-2/neu–positive metastatic breast cancer patients. [Cancer Res 2009;69(23):8941–8]
Nutritional optimization of Arthrospira platensis for starch and Total carbohydrates production

Present study aims to optimize the production of starch and total carbohydrates from Arthrospira platensis. Growing concerns toward unprecedented environmental issues associated with plastic pollution has created a tremendous impetus to develop new biomaterials for the production of bioplastic. Starch‐based biopolymers from algae serve as sustainable feedstock for thermoplastic starch production due to their abundant availability and low cost. A. platensis was cultivated in Zarrouk's medium at 32 ± 1°C and exposed to red light with a photoperiod of 12:12 hr light/dark. Growth kinetics studies showed that the maximum specific growth rate (μmax) obtained was 0.059 day−1 with the doubling time (td) of 11.748 days. Subsequently, Zarrouk's medium with different concentrations of sulfur, phosphorus and nitrogen was prepared to establish the nutrient‐limiting conditions to enhance the accumulation of starch and total carbohydrates. In this study, the highest starch accumulated was 6.406 ± 0.622 mg L−1 under optimized phosphorus limitation (0.025 g L−1) conditions. Nitrogen limitation (0.250 g L−1) results demonstrated significant influenced (p < 0.05) on total carbohydrates (67.573 ± 2.893 mg L−1) accumulation in A. platensis. The starch accumulation in A. platensis was significantly affected (p < 0.05) by phosphorus limitation (0.0025 g L−1). Subsequently, the optimized phosphorus concentration was coupled with mixotrophic cultivation to further enhance the starch accumulation. The results obtained indicated that, the starch (11.426 ± 0.314 mg L−1) and carbohydrates (43.053 ± 2.986 mg L−1) concentration obtained was significantly high (p < 0.05) under mixotrophic cultivation. Therefore, it shown that nutrient limitation and mixotrophic cultivation are viable strategies to enhance the accumulation of starch and total carbohydrates in A. platensis.
The Influence of Pharmacogenetic Variants in HIV/Tuberculosis Coinfected Patients in Uganda in the SOUTH Study

Unsatisfactory treatment outcomes have been reported in patients coinfected with HIV/tuberculosis (TB). The aim of this study was to assess the influence of single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding for proteins involved in antitubercular drug disposition or effect. A pharmacogenetic study was conducted in Kampala, Uganda, where all analysis was performed. The impact of SNPs on antitubercular drug exposure, adverse events, and treatment outcomes was evaluated in patients coinfected with HIV/TB receiving treatments for both conditions. In 221 participants, N‐acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2; rs1799930), solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 1B1 (SLCO1B1; rs4149032), and pregnane X receptor (PXR; rs2472677) variants affected isoniazid exposure in multivariate analysis. Most patients were deemed cured (163; 73.8%), yet PXR 63396TT carriers had a higher probability of death (P = 0.007) and of worsening peripheral neuropathy (P = 0.018). In this exploratory study in Ugandan patients coinfected with HIV/TB, genetic variants in PXR, SLCO1B1, and NAT2 were moderately associated with isoniazid exposure, whereas PXR 63396TT carriers showed worse outcomes.
What influences the willingness of cancer patients to receive hospice palliative care at end of life?

BACKGROUND The benefits of hospice palliative care (HPC) for end-of-life (EoL) patients have been widely acknowledged in recent years. There is still limited knowledge about cancer patients' willingness toward HPC. This study aimed to investigate the willingness of cancer patients to receive HPC and the influencing factors. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted with cancer patients enrolled from teaching hospitals in Taiwan. The questionnaire included demographic characteristics, EoL care preferences, and scales for measuring the willingness to receive HPC, HPC knowledge, and attitude towards HPC. Data were collected by senior nurses and they were analyzed using descriptive and a regression analysis. RESULTS A total of 148 valid questionnaires were collected. The participants indicated that they 'willing to receive' HPC (mean3.8 on a 5-point scale). The predictors for their willingness to receive HPC were knowledge about HPC (P = 0.001), positive attitude towards HPC (P = 0.008), preference for hospital death (P = 0.022), and preference for quality of life (P = 0.047) as the goal of EoL care. These factors explained 32.7% of the total variance in the willingness to receive HPC. CONCLUSIONS Cancer patients were generally willing to receive HPC. Clinician should discuss EoL care with them earlier. Develop appropriate educational strategies that can provide cancer patients with sufficient and tailored HPC information to develop their knowledge and to create a positive attitude about HPC is necessary, thereby to allow for early HPC intervention and to fulfill the patients' need for HPC.
Interpersonal Change as a Mediator of the Within- and Between-Patient Alliance-Outcome Association in Two Treatments for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Objective: Although a better therapeutic alliance associates with treatment outcome, it may do so in different ways. For example, alliance quality may promote improvement as it shifts over time (within-patient changes); alternatively, alliance quality may also, or instead, influence outcome when generally higher or lower for some patients relative to others (between-patient differences). Although both components have been linked to patient improvement, the distinct mechanisms of these associations have been rarely examined. Conceptually, it follows that within-patient alliance fluctuations (representing the changing nature of a current relationship intended to be ameliorative) may facilitate other interpersonal improvements that could, in turn, translate into symptom reduction. This path squares with the corrective relational experience notion. In contrast, whereas as patients’ average alliances across therapy may generally facilitate or hinder improvement, the mechanism may not be other relationship functioning. This squares with the notion that when people generally experience good alliances with their therapist, it may reflect an existing relational ability that catalyzes the effectiveness of other nonrelational therapeutic means. This study tested these distinct hypotheses. Method: Patients (N = 85) with generalized anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to cognitive–behavioral therapy, either alone or integrated with motivational interviewing. They rated alliance quality, interpersonal problems, and outcome repeatedly. Results: Using multilevel structural equation modeling, both within- and between-patient alliances related to subsequent worry reduction. As predicted, change in interpersonal problems mediated the association only at the within-patient level. Conclusions: Results contribute to the literature on mechanisms of the within- and between-person alliance-outcome association.
The Firing Rate Speed Code of Entorhinal Speed Cells Differs across Behaviorally Relevant Time Scales and Does Not Depend on Medial Septum Inputs

The firing rate of speed cells, a dedicated subpopulation of neurons in the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), is correlated with running speed. This correlation has been interpreted as a speed code used in various computational models for path integration. These models consider firing rate to be linearly tuned by running speed in real-time. However, estimation of firing rates requires integration of spiking events over time, setting constraints on the temporal accuracy of the proposed speed code. We therefore tested whether the proposed speed code by firing rate is accurate at short time scales using data obtained from open-field recordings in male rats and mice. We applied a novel filtering approach differentiating between speed codes at multiple time scales ranging from deciseconds to minutes. In addition, we determined the optimal integration time window for firing-rate estimation using a general likelihood framework and calculated the integration time window that maximizes the correlation between firing rate and running speed. Data show that these time windows are on the order of seconds, setting constraints on real-time speed coding by firing rate. We further show that optogenetic inhibition of either cholinergic, GABAergic, or glutamatergic neurons in the medial septum/diagonal band of Broca does not affect modulation of firing rates by running speed at each time scale tested. These results are relevant for models of path integration and for our understanding of how behavioral activity states may modulate firing rates and likely information processing in the MEC. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Path integration is the most basic form of navigation relying on self-motion cues. Models of path integration use medial septum/diagonal band of Broca (MSDB)-dependent MEC grid-cell firing patterns as the neurophysiological substrate of path integration. These models use a linear speed code by firing rate, but do not consider temporal constraints of integration over time for firing-rate estimation. We show that firing-rate estimation for speed cells requires integration over seconds. Using optogenetics, we show that modulation of firing rates by running speed is independent of MSDB inputs. These results enhance our understanding of path integration mechanisms and the role of the MSDB for information processing in the MEC.
A Step toward Understanding Diet Quality in Urban African-American Breast Cancer Survivors: A Cross-sectional Analysis of Baseline Data from the Moving Forward Study

Abstract Purpose: Little is known about the dietary behaviors of African-American breast cancer survivors (AABCS). We sought to describe dietary intake and quality in AABCS and examine associations with demographic, social, lifestyle, and body composition factors to potentially inform the development of effective dietary interventions. Methods: Baseline data from a prospective weight loss trial of 210 AABCS were assessed. A food frequency questionnaire was used to evaluate dietary intake and diet quality via the Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI-2010) and Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010). Linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the most influential variables on diet quality. Results: Mean HEI- and AHEI-2010 total scores were 65.11 and 56.83 indicating that diet quality needs improvement. Women were the least adherent to recommendations for intake of whole grains, dairy, sodium, empty calories, sugary beverages, red/processed meats, and trans-fat. Increased self-efficacy for healthy eating behaviors, more years of education (AHEI only), negative smoking status, smaller waist circumference, and increased physical activity (HEI only) were significantly associated with higher diet quality scores. Conclusion: Our findings suggest the diet quality of AABCS needs improvement. Intervention programs may achieve higher diet quality in AABCS by focusing on increasing self-efficacy for healthy eating behaviors.
Adverse event reporting and patient safety at a University Hospital: Mapping, correlating and associating events for a data-based patient risk management.

BACKGROUND Reporting adverse events (AE) with a bearing on patient safety is fundamentally important to the identification and mitigation of potential clinical risks. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the AE reporting systems adopted at a university hospital for the purpose of enhancing the learning potential afforded by these systems. RESEARCH DESIGN Retrospective cohort study METHODS Data were collected from different information flows (reports of incidents and falls, patients' claims and complaints, and cases of hospital-acquired infection [HAI]) at an university hospital. A composite risk indicator was developed to combine the data from the different flows. Spearman's nonparametric test was applied to investigate the correlation between the AE rates and a Poisson regression analysis to verify the association among characteristics of the wards and AE rates. SUBJECTS Sixty-four wards at a University Hospital. RESULTS There was a marked variability among wards AE rates. Correlations emerged between patients' claims with complaints and the number of incidents reported. Falls were positively associated with average length of hospital stay, number of beds, patients' mean age, and type of ward, and they were negatively associated with the average Cost Weight of the Diagnosis-related group (DRG) of patients on a given ward. Claims and complaints were associated directly with the average DRG weight of a ward's patient admissions. CONCLUSIONS This study attempted to learn something useful from an analysis of the mandatory (but often little used) data flows generated on adverse events occurring at an university hospital with a view to managing the associated clinical risk to patients.
A Longitudinal Analysis of Pressurized Wideband Absorbance Measures in Healthy Young Infants.

OBJECTIVES Wideband absorbance (WBA) is an emerging technology to evaluate the conductive pathway (outer and middle ear) in young infants. While a wealth of research has been devoted to measuring WBA at ambient pressure, few studies have investigated the use of pressurized WBA with this population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of age on WBA measured under pressurized conditions in healthy infants from 0 to 6 months of age. DESIGN Forty-four full-term healthy neonates (17 males and 27 females) participated in a longitudinal study. The neonates were assessed at 1-month intervals from 0 to 6 months of age using high-frequency tympanometry, acoustic stapedial reflex, distortion product otoacoustic emissions, and pressurized WBA. The values of WBA at tympanometric peak pressure (TPP) and 0 daPa across the frequencies from 0.25 to 8 kHz were analyzed as a function of age. RESULTS A linear mixed model analysis, applied to the data, revealed significantly different WBA patterns among the age groups. In general, WBA measured at TPP and 0 daPa decreased at low frequencies (<0.4 kHz) and increased at high frequencies (2 to 5and 8 kHz) with age. Specifically, WBA measured at TPP and 0 daPa in 3- to 6-month-olds was significantly different from that of 0- to 2-month-olds at low (0.25 to 0.31 kHz) and high (2 to 5 and 8 kHz) frequencies. However, there were no significant differences between WBA measured at TPP and 0 daPa for infants from 3 to 6 months of age. CONCLUSIONS The present study provided clear evidence of maturation of the outer and middle ear system in healthy infants from birth to 6 months. Therefore, age-specific normative data of pressurized WBA are warranted.
Iodine Biofortification of Four Brassica Genotypes is Effective Already at Low Rates of Potassium Iodate

The use of iodine-biofortified vegetables may be a health alternative instead of iodine-biofortified salt for preventing iodine (I) deficiency and related human disorders. In this study, four Brassica genotypes (broccoli raab, curly kale, mizuna, red mustard) were hydroponically grown with three I-IO3− rates (0, 0.75 and 1.5 mg/L) to produce iodine-biofortified vegetables. Crop performances and quality traits were analyzed; iodine content was measured on raw, boiled, and steamed vegetables. The highest I rate generally increased I content in all Brassica genotypes, without plants toxicity effects in terms of reduced growth or morphological symptoms. After 21 day-iodine biofortification, the highest I content (49.5 µg/100 g Fresh Weight (FW)) was reached in broccoli raab shoots, while after 43 day-iodine biofortification, genotype differences were flattened and the highest I content (66 µg/100 g FW, on average) was obtained using 1.5 mg I-IO3/L. Nitrate content (ranging from 1800 to 4575 mg/kg FW) was generally higher with 0.75 mg I-IO3/L, although it depended on genotypes. Generally, boiling reduced iodine content, while steaming increased or left it unchanged, depending on genotypes. Applying low levels of I proved to be suitable, since it could contribute to the partial intake of the recommended dose of 150 µg/day: A serving size of 100 g may supply on average 24% of the recommended dose. Cooking method should be chosen in order to preserve and/or enhance the final I amount.
Patterns of Diabetes Screening and Prediabetes Treatment during Office Visits in the US

Introduction: The American Diabetes Association recommends annual screenings for prediabetes if the patient meets the suggested requirements. The overall prevalence of prediabetes has decreased from an estimated 86 million adults in 2012 to 84.1 million adults in 2015 in the United States. Along with lifestyle modifications, the use of metformin as a treatment option or in combination has shown a decrease in weight and health care costs. This study was designed to review the prevalence of screening and treatment of prediabetes in the United States by using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, as well as identify any factors associated with screenings and treatment. Methods: The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey was used to examine a study sample of office visits between 2012 and 2015, reviewing the prevalence of screenings and lab services ordered or provided at each patient visit. Inclusion criteria consisted of the recommendations given by the American Diabetes Association including any patient ≥45 years or adult patient <45 years with a body mass index of ≥25 kg/m2 and an additional risk factor. Patients with a previous diagnosis of diabetes were excluded from the sample. Results: A total of 105,721 office visits (2012 to 2015) were included in the analysis. The diabetes screening prevalence increased from 10% in 2012 to 13.4% in 2015. Metformin (n = 140, 76.1%) was the most common antidiabetic medication prescribed to treat prediabetes. Conclusions: The prevalence of diabetes screening during office visits remained lower than 15% between 2012 and 2015 in the United States. Physicians primarily prescribe lifestyle modifications, including a healthy diet and exercise, with metformin being used in some cases for the prevention of diabetes.