Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variations in Management of Common Inpatient Pediatric Illnesses: Hospitalists and Community Pediatricians

OBJECTIVE. The goal was to test the hypothesis that pediatric hospitalists use evidence-based therapies and tests more consistently in the care of inpatients and use therapies and tests of unproven benefit less often, compared with community pediatricians. METHODS. A national survey was administered to hospitalists and a random sample of community pediatricians. Hospitalists and community pediatricians reported their frequency of use of diagnostic tests and therapies, on 5-point Likert scales (ranging from never to almost always), for common inpatient pediatric illnesses. Responses were compared in univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses controlling for gender, race, years out of residency, days spent attending per year, hospital practice type, and completion of fellowship/postgraduate training. RESULTS. Two hundred thirteen pediatric hospitalists and 352 community pediatricians responded. In multivariable regression analyses, hospitalists were significantly more likely to report often or almost always using the following evidence-based therapies for asthma: albuterol and ipratropium in the first 24 hours of hospitalization. After the first urinary tract infection, hospitalists were more likely to report obtaining the recommended renal ultrasound and voiding cystourethrogram. Hospitalists were significantly more likely than community pediatricians to report rarely or never using the following therapies of unproven benefit: levalbuterol, inhaled steroid therapy, and oral steroid therapy for bronchiolitis; stool culture and rotavirus testing for gastroenteritis; and ipratropium after 24 hours of hospitalization for asthma. CONCLUSION. Overall, in comparison with community pediatricians, hospitalists reported greater adherence to evidence-based therapies and tests in the care of hospitalized patients and less use of therapies and tests of unproven benefit.
Activation and inhibition of cyclin‐dependent kinase‐2 by phosphorylation; a molecular dynamics study reveals the functional importance of the glycine‐rich loop

Nanoseconds long molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories of differently active complexes of human cyclin‐dependent kinase 2 (inactive CDK2/ATP, semiactive CDK2/Cyclin A/ATP, fully active pT160‐CDK2/Cyclin A/ATP, inhibited pT14‐; pY15‐; and pT14,pY15,pT160‐CDK2/Cyclin A/ATP) were compared. The MD simulations results of CDK2 inhibition by phosphorylation at T14 and/or Y15 sites provide insight into the structural aspects of CDK2 deactivation. The inhibitory sites are localized in the glycine‐rich loop (G‐loop) positioned opposite the activation T‐loop. Phosphorylation of T14 and both inhibitory sites T14 and Y15 together causes ATP misalignment for phosphorylation and G‐loop conformational change. This conformational change leads to the opening of the CDK2 substrate binding box. The phosphorylated Y15 residue negatively affects substrate binding or its correct alignment for ATP terminal phospho‐group transfer to the CDK2 substrate. The MD simulations of the CDK2 activation process provide results in agreement with previous X‐ray data.
Acute Injuries in Track and Field Athletes

Background: Few studies have examined acute injuries in track and field in both elite and subelite athletes. Purpose: To observe the absolute number and relative rates of injury in track and field athletes across a wide range of competition levels and ages during 3 years of the Penn Relays Carnival to assist with future medical coverage planning and injury prevention strategies. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Over a 3-year period, all injuries treated by the medical staff were recorded on a standardized injury report form. Absolute number of injuries and relative injury rates (number of injuries per 1000 competing athletes) were determined and odds ratios (ORs) of injury rates were calculated between sexes, competition levels, and events. Injuries were also broken down into major or minor medical or orthopaedic injuries. Results: Throughout the study period, 48,473 competing athletes participated in the Penn Relays Carnival, and 436 injuries were sustained. For medical coverage purposes, the relative rate of injury subtypes was greatest for minor orthopaedic injuries (5.71 injuries per 1000 participants), followed by minor medical injuries (3.42 injuries per 1000 participants), major medical injuries (0.69 injuries per 1000 participants), and major orthopaedic injuries (0.18 injuries per 1000 participants). College/elite athletes displayed the lowest relative injury rate (7.99 injuries per 1000 participants), which was significantly less than that of high school (9.87 injuries per 1000 participants) and masters athletes (16.33 injuries per 1000 participants). Male athletes displayed a greater likelihood of having a minor orthopaedic injury compared with female athletes (OR, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.06-1.75]; χ2 = 5.73; P = .017) but were less likely to sustain a major medical injury (OR, 0.33 [95% CI, 0.15-0.75]; χ2 = 7.75; P = .005). Of the 3 most heavily participated in events, the 4 × 400-m relay displayed the greatest relative injury rate (13.6 injuries per 1000 participants) compared with the 4 × 100-m and 4 × 200-m relays. Conclusion: Medical coverage teams for future large-scale track and field events need to plan for at least 2 major orthopaedic and 7 major medical injuries per 10,000 participants. Male track and field athletes, particularly masters male athletes, are at greater risk of injury compared with other sexes and competition levels.
Initial and Serial Evoked Potentials in Cerebrovascular Critical Care Patients

Results of somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) and brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) examinations performed early in the clinical course of patients with acute cerebrovascular disease correlate statistically significantly with outcome regardless of type and localization of the primary lesion. The prognostic value of serial examinations of SEP and BAEP has not been studied yet. The authors examined a group of 215 patients suffering from acute stroke requiring neurocritical care composed of 75 supratentorial and 36 infratentorial ischemic strokes, 58 supratentorial and 18 infratentorial hemorrhages, and 28 aneurysmatic subarachnoid hemorrhages prospectively using spinal and cortical SEP and BAEP according to routine procedures on admission as well as after 1 and 2 weeks. The findings were correlated to outcome at 4 weeks. Statistical assessment was performed using standard methods of contingency analysis. In all groups, SEP findings were significantly correlated with outcome at initial and all subsequent examinations, similar correlations were also found for BAEP. However, after partialling out the prognostic information gained from the initial examination of SEP and BAEP, the follow-up examinations rendered only a marginal increase in prognostic information. Therefore, the initial examination of evoked potentials supplies valuable prognostic information, however, serial examinations of evoked potentials during the first weeks of disease improve the prognostic information only marginally.
Preparation and characterization of the nano-doped polyimide film

In this paper, a kind of nano-doped polyimide composite film was made by synthesizing polyimide/inorganic nano-particle matrix resin through sol-gel technique, followed by rotating it on a silex glass plate and heating at high temperature. The effect of the size of the inorganic particle that derived from methyl-triethoxysilane, as a precursor of the inorganic moiety, in-situ in the polyamic acid solution on the corona-resistant property was studied. The miscibility between the organic and inorganic phases and its effect on the corona-resistant property was investigated with aminopropyltriethoxysilane, which serves as a coupling agent, added into the polyimide composite system. The chemical structure and the surface morphology of the film were characterized by FTIR, AFM respectively. The corona-resistant property was tested by rod-plate electrode. It proved that the corona-resistant property was enhanced with the increasing of size of the inorganic particle, and that it got excellent result with the size in the range from 100 to 500 nm. It also turned out that the presence of chemical bonds between two phases due to adding of the coupling agent had, to some extent, effect on the corona-resistant property of the film. In this article, furthermore, the factors and the principle of the effect on the corona-resistant property were discussed. The approaches how to enhance the corona-resistant property were put forward preliminarily.
Non-right-handedness and free serum testosterone levels in detoxified patients with alcohol dependence.

AIMS The influence of testosterone on the extent of hemispheric dominance has been discussed not just during the first two trimesters of pregnancy but also later in life. An increase in free serum testosterone levels has been found during and after the detoxification phase of patients with alcohol dependence. METHODS In 250 participants (125 men and 125 women) with alcohol dependence immediately after the direct withdrawal phase (Day 21) and in 250 healthy age- and gender-matched participants, free testosterone in the serum was determined and handedness was assessed as a peripheral marker of central hemispheric dominance. RESULTS Patients with alcohol dependence were 2.7-fold (odds ratio, OR: 2.66; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.62-4.38) and men 4.1-fold (OR: 4.12; 95% CI: 2.44-6.98) more likely to be non-right-handed (NRH). In addition to male gender, non-right-handedness and alcohol dependence contributed statistically significantly to higher serum testosterone levels. Testosterone values of patients with alcohol dependence differed significantly between the four different Lesch subtypes; in particular, participants with alcohol dependence classified according to Lesch subtype IV were found to have significantly higher serum testosterone levels (F = 20.5; P < 0.001) when compared to participants classified according to Lesch subtypes I-III. CONCLUSIONS An alteration of hemispheric dominance and thus an exogenously modifiable neuronal plasticity may be demonstrated directly on a population at risk.
Distant metastases in squamous-cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

Scant attention has been paid to distant metastases from cancer of the cervix as it was considered generally not to spread above the pelvic brim. A review of the early literature reveals a wide variance in the reported incidence of metastases from cervical carcinoma, not only overall, but also in distribution (1, 3–5). Publications concerning unusual manifestations of metastases from cancer of the cervix have appeared sporadically, but a comprehensive evaluation of a large series of patients portraying the overall incidence of distant metastases as well as that of various organ involvements has not appeared. Modern radiotherapy achieves better control of cancer in the pelvis and allows more patients to survive longer, which, in turn, permits distant metastases to become clinically evident. The present study was undertaken to analyze the incidence and distribution of distant metastases in patients treated at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston, Texas, between Septem.
Recurrence risk of preeclampsia in twin and singleton pregnancies

The etiology of preeclampsia is unknown. The relatively high risk of recurrence of preeclampsia in subsequent pregnancies to the same mother suggests a genetic basis for the disease, but the mode of inheritance is uncertain. We compare the risk of preeclampsia in second pregnancies for mothers whose first preeclamptic pregnancy was either a singleton or a twin pregnancy. The crude and adjusted recurrence risks of preeclampsia in twin and singleton pregnancies were estimated in a population‐based register including the first and second pregnancies of 550,218 women registered in the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, 1967–1998. The recurrence risk of preeclampsia in second pregnancy for women with a singleton pregnancy with preeclampsia the first time was 14.1% (95% CI: 13.6–14.6). For women with a first time twin pregnancy the recurrence risk was lower, 6.8% (CI: 4.3–10.1), P < 0.001. Thus, the crude excess risk for recurrent preeclampsia was 7.3% (95% CI: 4.5–10.0) in women with a first time singleton as compared to women with a first time twin pregnancy. The recurrence risk of preeclampsia is lower when the first pregnancy was a twin as compared to a singleton pregnancy. This observation is consistent with a polygenic liability model. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
New trends in Staphylococcus aureus infections: glycopeptide resistance in hospital and methicillin resistance in the community

Purpose of review Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is prevalent in hospitals throughout the world, and we have got used to its presence in daily clinical practice. However, methicillin-resistant S. aureus has not remained static over the past four decades, but seems to be evolving in unfamiliar directions. This review focuses on recent findings on two directions of methicillin-resistant S. aureus evolution: the acquisition of multiple antibiotic resistance in the hospital and the trend towards methicillin-resistant S. aureus as a community pathogen. Recent findings We looked at reports on glycopeptide resistance in S. aureus and those on community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains, with some references of historical value to explain the entire picture of this ‘new field’ of the methicillin-resistant S. aureus problem. Summary The references given here (excluding some of low credibility) attest the increasing awareness of the two conspicuous problems concerning methicillin-resistant S. aureus infection. One is the increasing trend of glycopeptide-resistance, making difficult the successful treatment of multi-drug-resistant methicillin-resistant S. aureus infection in the hospital. On the other hand, non-multi-drug-resistant methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains are emerging as novel threats in the community, the genetic analysis of which indicates that they are independent clones from those found in hospitals.
The use of semi-scripted speech in a listening placement test for university students

This paper describes the feasibility of using semi-scripted spoken lectures as stimulus materials in a test of academic listening. The context for this study was the development of a revised test of academic listening designed to place enrolled university students into one of two levels of a language support course for non-native speakers. Because academic listening often involves listening to monologic speech such as lectures (Ferris & Tagg, 1996a), and because ‘authentic’ spoken language is qualitatively different to scripted speech (Biber et al., 2004), the revised test uses semi-scripted spoken mini-lectures as stimulus passages rather than relying on scripted material. Test questions were developed using only the informational elements that four model comprehenders, proficient English listeners (both native and non-native), were able to retain from a single hearing of the passages. Test data from 222 students were analysed using a Rasch methodology. Results show that this test development method did result in testable content that was appropriately targeted at the population of interest, though several aspects of the process could be improved. The paper concludes with some recommendations for using semi-scripted language in academic listening tests.
Vitamin D status during pregnancy: maternal, fetal, and postnatal outcomes

Purpose of review To consider evidence from recent studies linking maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy with maternal, fetal, and postnatal outcomes. Recent findings Several studies have demonstrated an association between poor maternal vitamin D status and severe preeclampsia, though results are inconsistent and cannot be generalized to nonsevere preeclampsia. Pregnant women with gestational diabetes, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, and periodontal disease had lower vitamin D status at mid-gestation or delivery compared with controls. Maternal vitamin D status early in pregnancy was associated with risk of low birth weight and small-for-gestational age infants in one study, whereas another study found this relation only among white women. Polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor gene may contribute to vitamin D-related disparities in fetal growth. Evidence from recent studies suggests an early prenatal influence of maternal vitamin D status on fetal skeletal development, with lasting postnatal effects. Cord blood vitamin D status was associated with tolerogenic immune regulation and fewer respiratory infections in the newborn. Summary Recent evidence supports a role of maternal vitamin D status, particularly early in pregnancy, in modulating the risk of pregnancy complications and in sustaining fetal growth, bone development, and immune maturation.
Evaluation of Epidemic Seeding Strategies under Variable Node Costs ∗

Network epidemics is a general modeling framework useful to represent dynamic processes over networks, such as the spread of a virus on a computer network or information dissemination on a social network. Within this framework, network seeding is the problem of determining which network nodes should be selected to start an epidemic. Intuitively, the success of an epidemic under some performance metric (ex. number of reached nodes) largely depends on the set of initially infected nodes. Prior approaches to effective network seeding have treated nodes identically in terms of their respective cost to start an epidemic. However, we argue that such assumption is inadequate in many cases and thus consider network seeding under variable node cost. We propose a degree-based cost function and evaluate the performance of four different network seeding strategies over two different network models. Our results show that no seeding strategy is consistently superior under identical budgets. In particular, we identify a tradeoff between strategies that select (hire) a larger number of cheap nodes (low degree) and strategies that select few expensive nodes (high degree). Our results shed light on the importance of taking into account variable node cost, a more realistic assumption in many applications.
Migration‐stimulating factor displays HEXXH‐dependent catalytic activity important for promoting tumor cell migration

Like most extracellular matrix (ECM) components, fibronectin (Fn) is proteolyzed generating specific activities. Fibronectin proteinase (Fn‐proteinase) represents such a cryptic activity located in the gelatin‐binding domain (GBD) of Fn and displays a zinc metalloproteinase activity. The migration‐stimulating factor (MSF) is a truncated Fn isoform generated by alternative mRNA splicing and corresponds to the N‐terminal part of Fn that comprises the GBD. We show that several human mammary epithelial cells express MSF and constitutively produce Fn‐proteinase activity. Furthermore, recombinant MSF produced by HEK‐293 and MCF‐7 cells possesses a constitutive Fn‐proteinase activity. Mutating the putative zinc‐binding motif, HEXXH, of the protein abolishes its activity thereby demonstrating its specificity. Using PCR, we showed that MSF is barely expressed in normal breast tissues, whereas its expression is significantly increased in tumors. Furthermore, an association between MSF expression and invasive capacity is observed in various breast adenocarcinoma cell lines. Indeed, when stably transfected in non‐invasive MCF‐7 cells, MSF promotes cell migration in a mechanism mostly dependent on its Fn‐proteinase activity. In summary, our study shows that: (i) MSF displays constitutive Fn‐proteinase activity; (ii) MSF expression is induced in human breast cancer; and (iii) MSF confers pro‐migratory activity that depends mostly on its Fn‐proteinase activity. These results suggest that MSF may be involved in tumor progression. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Anchor Ice and Benthic Disturbance in Shallow Antarctic Waters: Interspecific Variation in Initiation and Propagation of Ice Crystals

Sea ice typically forms at the ocean’s surface, but given a source of supercooled water, an unusual form of ice—anchor ice—can grow on objects in the water column or at the seafloor. For several decades, ecologists have considered anchor ice to be an important agent of disturbance in the shallow-water benthic communities of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, and potentially elsewhere in polar seas. Divers have documented anchor ice in the McMurdo communities, and its presence coincides with reduced abundance of the sponge Homaxinella balfourensis, which provides habitat for a diverse assemblage of benthic organisms. However, the mechanism of this disturbance has not been explored. Here we show interspecific differences in anchor-ice formation and propagation characteristics for Antarctic benthic organisms. The sponges H. balfourensis and Suberites caminatus show increased incidence of formation and accelerated spread of ice crystals compared to urchins and sea stars. Anchor ice also forms readily on sediments, from which it can grow and adhere to organisms. Our results are consistent with, and provide a potential first step toward, an explanation for disturbance patterns observed in shallow polar benthic communities. Interspecific differences in ice formation raise questions about how surface tissue characteristics such as surface area, rugosity, and mucus coating affect ice formation on invertebrates.
Glutamate activation of Oct‐2 in cultured chick Bergmann glia cells: Involvement of NFκB

Glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, is critically involved in gene expression regulation at the transcriptional and translational levels. Its activity through ionotropic as well as metabotropic receptors modifies the protein repertoire in neurons and glial cells. In avian cerebellar Bergmann glia cells, glutamate receptors trigger a diverse array of signaling cascades that include activity‐dependent transcription factors such as the activator protein‐1, the cAMP response‐element binding protein, and Oct‐2. We analyze the upstream regulatory elements involved in Oct‐2 activation. Our results demonstrate that Ca2+ influx, protein kinase C, phosphatidylinositol‐3 kinase, Src, and nuclear factor (NF)κB are involved in this signaling pathway. Our findings link α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methylisoxazole‐4‐propionate (AMPA) receptor activation to a negative phase of chkbp gene regulation, controlled by NFκB. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Knowledge sharing and affective commitment: the mediating role of psychological ownership

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the meditating role of psychological ownership which includes both organisation-based psychological ownership (OPO) and knowledge-based psychological ownership (KPO) on the relationship between affective commitment and knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is an empirical study based on structural equation modelling, with a sample of 293 employees from 31 high-technology firms in China. Findings – The result indicated that affective commitment had a significant positive effect on OPO but no effect on KPO; OPO was positively related to both common and key knowledge sharing, while KPO exerted a negative impact on both; common knowledge sharing was positively related to key knowledge sharing; the relationship between affective commitment and key knowledge sharing was multi-mediated by OPO and common knowledge sharing. Originality/value – OPO and KPO play an essential role in transferring the effect of employees’ affective commitment .