Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pattern of Pain Management Practices of Filipino Surgeons

Background: Among all the fields of specialization in medicine, the surgeons probably encounter the highest number of pain patients, aside from ‘causing’ many painful conditions due to surgical procedures. It was widely presumed that surgeons in general do not pay much attention to pain management of their patients, often passing on the responsibility to other specialists. Methods: A survey was conducted among general surgeons from all the regions in the Philippines. There were 167 respondents of 200 questionnaires sent. An 18-item, multiple-choice questionnaire was developed to assess their prevailing pain management practices preoperatively, postoperatively and when the patients are recovering, as well as their preferences in medications. Results: The majority of the respondents (58%) claim that they personally manage their patients’ postoperative pain. Almost half use a combination of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and a weak opioid, and only 13% use a combination of a strong opioid and an NSAID. Only 17% of the respondents start oral medications in the recovery room. The majority (90%) claim that they personally attend to their patients’ pain in the wards. Almost all the respondents (98.8%) started oral medications as soon as possible. Only 20% of the respondents always use the Visual Analog Scale in pain assessment. The majority of the respondents (55%) have no narcotic license (S2). Conclusions: Although the majority of the respondents claim to be involved in the management of perioperative pain of their patients, an objective assessment of the patients’ pain is not usually done. The use of opioids alone or in combination is still low among Filipino surgeons; the main reason could be the regulatory provisions of the government on opioid use.
Programmed cell death‐10 enhances proliferation and protects malignant T cells from apoptosis

Lauenborg B, Kopp K, Krejsgaard T, Eriksen KW, Geisler C, Dabelsteen S, Gniadecki R, Zhang Q, Wasik MA, Woetmann A, Odum N. Programmed cell death‐10 enhances proliferation and protects malignant T cells from apoptosis. APMIS 2010; 118: 719–28.
Clinical Outcomes of Botulinum Toxin Injection in Patients with Cerebral Palsy and Esotropia*

Abstract Purpose: To assess the efficacy of botulinum toxin (Novotox) injection in patients with cerebral palsy (CP) and esotropia. Patients and methods: In a non-comparative, prospective interventional case series botulinum toxin injection was done in 44 patients with CP and esotropia. A single dose of botulinum toxin was injected in both medial rectus muscles of all patients and was repeated in 12 patients. Angle of deviation within 10 prism diopters (PD) of orthotropia was defined as a successful outcome. Result: Forty-four patients (21 males) with the mean age of 47.56 ± 35.86 months were included in the study. The mean esotropia in all patients was 52.27 ± 18.40 PD (25–123 PD). The range of follow-up was 12–24 months. Thirty patients (68.18%) were treated successfully one year after surgery. The rates of success, consecutive exotropia, and residual esotropia were 61.4%, 13.63%, and 25% in the last follow-up, respectively. The logistic regression showed statistically significant results between success result and lower age, higher pre-injection deviation, one month post-injection deviation, and severe ptosis. Complications included subconjunctival hemorrhage and ptosis. Conclusion: Botulinum toxin injection is reasonably less invasive with light anesthesia, scar free, and a therapeutic alternative for the patient with esotropia and CP. Therefore, it can provide more possible surgical options in future.
Causes of Decadal Climate Variability over the North Pacific and North America

The cause of decadal climate variability over the North Pacific Ocean and North America is investigated by the analysis of data from a multidecadal integration with a state-of-the-art coupled ocean-atmosphere model and observations. About one-third of the low-frequency climate variability in the region of interest can be attributed to a cycle involving unstable air-sea interactions between the subtropical gyre circulation in the North Pacific and the Aleutian low-pressure system. The existence of this cycle provides a basis for long-range climate forecasting over the western United States at decadal time scales.
Maternal–foetal attachment independently predicts the quality of maternal–infant bonding and post-partum psychopathology

Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of maternal antenatal attachment and post-partum psychopathology, maternal–infant bonding, while checking for antenatal psychopathology, for lifetime psychiatric diagnosis and for the known risk factors for peripartum depression. Methods: One hundred and six women recruited at the first month of pregnancy (T0) were evaluated with the structured interview for DSM-IV TR (SCID-I) to assess the presence of lifetime psychiatric diagnosis and with the Perinatal Depression Predictor Inventory-Revised (PDPI-R), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). At the sixth month of pregnancy (T1) and at the first month post-partum (T2), all patients were evaluated with the PDPI-R, the EPDS, the STAI, at T1, with the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS), and at T2 with the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS). Results: Multivariate regression analyses showed that maternal–foetal attachment was the variable most significantly associated with postnatal symptoms of depression and anxiety and with quality of maternal-infant attachment. The logistic regression analyses showed that antenatal attachment may predict postnatal depressive and anxiety symptoms (respectively, OR: 0.83 – IC [0.74 − 0.95], p = .005, OR: 0.88 – IC [0.79 − 0.98], p = .02), and the quality of maternal postnatal attachment (OR: 1.17 – IC [1.08 − 1.27], p < .001), also after taking into account the known risk factors for perinatal depression, the sociodemographic variables and lifetime psychiatric diagnosis. Conclusion: The quality of maternal–foetal bonding may independently predict the quality of maternal–infant attachment and post-partum depressive and anxiety symptoms. A comprehensive assessment of maternal risk factors for perinatal psychopathology during pregnancy should include the evaluation of antenatal attachment that could be modifiable by specific interventions promoting the quality of maternal bonding.
Care requirements of a prevalent population of people with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative condition in the UK. Care needs increase as the disease progresses, but there are very few published data in relation to this. OBJECTIVE the aim of this study was to elicit the care requirements for a prevalent PD population and compare these to a similarly aged background population. METHODS all people diagnosed with idiopathic PD from within a defined area of north-east England were asked to participate in this study. Those who agreed to participate were assessed using a number of standard rating scales including Hoehn and Yahr stage, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Parkinson's Disease Questionaire-39 and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). In addition, participants were asked whether they had experienced hallucinations. Social and demographic information (e.g. age, sex and place of abode) was also recorded. RESULTS from all cases (n = 161), 135 people (83.8%) agreed to participate. Of these, 19 (14.1%) were living in residential or nursing homes, representing 1.6% of the total nursing/residential home residents in the study area. Participants had a mean age of 74.8 years and disease duration of 5.6 years. Those in care were significantly older and had significantly poorer Hoehn and Yahr, MMSE and UPDRS scores. CONCLUSION PD patients in institutional care have poorer cognitive function, are older, have later stage disease and worse functional ability than those living at home.
The Effects of Reverberation on the Emotional Characteristics of Musical Instruments

Though previous research has shown the effects of reverberation on clarity, spaciousness, and other perceptual aspects of music, it is still largely unknown to what extent reverberation influences the emotional characteristics of musical instrument sounds. This paper investigates the effect of simple parametric reverberation on music emotion, in particular, the effect of reverberation length and amount. We conducted a listening test to compare the effect of reverberation on the emotional characteristics of eight instrument sounds representing the wind and bowed string families. We compared these sounds over eight emotional categories. We found that reverberation length and amount had a strongly significant effect on the emotional characteristics Romantic and Mysterious and a medium effect on Sad, Scary, and Heroic for the samples we tested. Interestingly, for Comic, reverberation length and amount had the opposite effect; that is, anechoic tones were judged most Comic. Reverb had a mild effect on Happy and relatively little effect on Shy. These results give audio engineers and musicians an interesting perspective on simple parametric artificial reverberation.
How budget deficit and current account deficit are interrelated in Indian economy

The development in Indian economy brings the question of validity of the twin deficit hypothesis. The main aim of the article is theoretical and empirical analysis of the causal relationship between the budget deficit and the current account deficit in the Indian economy from the period 1990-2013. A co-integration test suggests that both the variables have a long run association between each other and move with each other for a long period of time. The Granger causality test clearly finds the existence of bidirectional relationship between the twin deficit variables. The results indicate that twin deficit hypothesis exists in India as opposed by direction between budget deficit and current account deficit. The study finds the government need to find adequate monetary and fiscal policy for policy variables.
In situ demonstration of CD40‐ and CD154‐positive cells in psoriatic lesions and keratinocyte production of chemokines by CD40 ligation in vitro

In psoriatic lesions, T cells and keratinocytes are in an activated state. Ligation of CD40 expressed on activated keratinocytes with CD154 expressed on activated T cells is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. However, the presence of CD40+ and CD154+ cells in psoriatic skin has not been thoroughly studied. The present study has therefore examined their presence by immunohistochemistry in the lesional and non‐lesional skin of ten patients. The influence of CD154–CD40 ligation on the release of chemokines (IL‐8, RANTES, and MCP‐1) and complement components (C3 and factor B) from keratinocytes was also investigated in vitro. Studies using single and double staining showed that clusters of CD40+ keratinocytes were present in both lesional and non‐lesional skin; CD40+CD1a+ Langerhans cells in lesional, non‐lesional, and normal skin; and numerous CD40+CD83+ cells in lesional skin. CD1a+ and CD83+ cells always expressed CD40 strongly. Numerous T cells were seen in lesional skin. A small number of T cells expressed CD154. CD154+ T cells were seen in the lesional epidermis of seven of ten patients—in six, in juxtaposition to CD40+ cells including keratinocytes. In non‐lesional epidermis, CD154+ T cells were seen in two patients—in one, in juxtaposition to CD40+ keratinocytes. In vitro studies showed that IFN‐γ‐treated keratinocytes released small amounts of IL‐8, RANTES, and MCP‐1; ligation of these cells with CD154‐transfected J558 cells or soluble CD154 greatly enhanced the release. This ligation did not enhance the release of C3 and factor B. These results warrant further studies on the role of CD40 ligation in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Copyright © 2004 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Insights into the pathogenic character of a common NUBPL branch-site mutation associated with mitochondrial disease and complex I deficiency using a yeast model

SUMMARY Complex I deficiencies are the most common causes of mitochondrial disorders. They can result from mutations not only in the structural subunits but also in a growing number of known assembly factors. A branch-site mutation in the human gene encoding assembly factor NUBPL has recently been associated with mitochondrial encephalopathy and complex I deficiency in seven independent cases. Moreover, the mutation is present in 1.2% of European haplotypes. To investigate its pathogenicity, we have reconstructed the altered C-terminus that results from the branch-site mutation and frameshift in the homologous Ind1 protein in the respiratory yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. We demonstrate that the altered sequence did not affect IND1 mRNA stability, yet it led to a decrease in Ind1 protein level. The instability of mutant Ind1 resulted in a strong decrease in complex I activity and caused slow growth, resembling the phenotype of the deletion strain of IND1. The presented data confirms the deleterious impact of the altered C-terminus resulting from the branch-site mutation. Furthermore, our approach demonstrates the great potential of Y. lipolytica as a model to investigate complex I deficiencies, especially in cases with genetic complexity.
Cross-border policy effects on alcohol outcomes: drinking without thinking on the u.s.-Mexico border?

BACKGROUND Rates of alcohol-related outcomes are sensitive to policy differences in politically distinct, adjacent territories. Factors that shape these cross-border effects, particularly when the policy differences are longstanding, remain poorly understood. We compared the ability of 2 classes of variables with theoretical relevance to the U.S.-Mexico border context-bar attendance and alcohol-related social-cognitive variables-to explain elevated drinking on the U.S. side of the border relative to other areas of the United States. METHODS Data were collected from multistage cluster samples of adult Mexican Americans on and off the U.S.-Mexico border (current drinker N = 1,351). Structural equation models were used to test drinking context (frequency of bar attendance) and 6 different social-cognitive variables (including alcohol-related attitudes, norms, motives, and beliefs) as mediators of border effects on a composite drinking index. RESULTS The border effect on drinking varied by age (with younger adults showing a stronger effect), consistent with previous findings and known risk factors in the region. Contrary to theoretical expectations, 6 different social-cognitive variables-despite relating strongly with drinking-were comparable in border and nonborder areas (within and across age) and played no role in elevated drinking on the border. Conversely, elevated drinking among border youth was mediated by bar attendance. This mediated moderation effect held after adjusting for potential sociodemographic and neighborhood-level confounders. CONCLUSIONS Increased drinking among U.S.-Mexico border youth is explained by patterns of bar attendance, but not by more permissive alcohol-related social-cognitive variables in border areas: Border youth attend bars and drink more than their nonborder counterparts, despite having comparable alcohol-related beliefs, attitudes, norms, and motives for use. Alcohol's heightened availability and visibility on both sides of the border may create opportunities for border youth to drink that otherwise would not be considered.
Early Clinical Results of a Novel Ab Interno Gel Stent for the Surgical Treatment of Open-angle Glaucoma

Purpose:To evaluate the intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering effect of the XEN140 microfistula gel stent implant for the surgical treatment of open-angle glaucoma. Patients and Methods:Forty-nine eyes of 49 patients with an IOP>18 mm Hg and ⩽35 mm Hg were studied in a prospective nonrandomized multicenter cohort trial of the surgical implantation of the XEN140 implant in patients with open-angle glaucoma. Complete success was defined as a postoperative IOP⩽18 mm Hg with ≥20% reduction in IOP at 12 months without any glaucoma medications. Failure was defined as vision loss of light perceptions vision or worse, need for additional glaucoma surgery, or <20% reduction of IOP from baseline. Results:The average age was 64.3 (28.1 to 86.9) years old. Twenty-one eyes had prior failed trabeculectomy with mitomycin C surgery. IOP at 12 months decreased from a mean of 23.1 (±4.1) mm Hg to 14.7 (±3.7) mm Hg for a 36.4% reduction in IOP from baseline. The number of patients at 12 months who achieved an IOP⩽18 mm Hg and ≥20% reduction in IOP was 40 (89%). The number of patients who achieved an IOP⩽18 mm Hg and ≥20% reduction in IOP without antiglaucoma medications was 18 (40%). Conclusions:The XEN140 gel stent lowers IOP with few complications when implanted for the surgical treatment of open-angle glaucoma.
Familial blood vessel tumors and subsequent cancers.

BACKGROUND Population-based data on the familial risk for vascular tumors are largely lacking. Such data are important for clinical counseling and cancer genetics. METHODS We used the Swedish Family-Cancer Database to calculate standardized incidence ratios for specific subtypes of vascular tumors in offspring using parents as probands. In addition, risks for second cancers were analyzed. RESULTS Offspring hemangioblastoma in the nervous system was associated with parental kidney cancer and nervous system hemangioblastoma and hemangioma. Offspring nervous system hemangiopericytoma was associated with parental pituitary adenomas. Offspring angiosarcoma in the trunk and extremities was associated with maternal breast cancer. Second Kaposi's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma were increased following primary skin Kaposi's sarcoma. Kidney and endocrine gland tumors and nervous system hemangioblastomas and hemangiomas were in excess following primary nervous system hemangioblastoma and hemangioma. CONCLUSIONS Our data showed that familial clustering of nervous system hemangioblastoma and hemangioma and the risks of subsequent cancers were primarily related to von-Hippel-Lindau disease. As a novel association, offspring nervous system hemangiopericytomas were in excess when parents were diagnosed with pituitary adenoma. Similarly, offspring angiosarcoma is associated with maternal breast cancer. Immunodeficiency may explain the excess of lymphoproliferative diseases after skin Kaposi's sarcoma.
Heterogeneity of households and the effects of fiscal policy in CEE countries

We analyse the effects of fiscal policy in non-EMU Central and Eastern European counties. The analysis is based on new Keynesian model, which takes into account both optimizing Ricardian households and non-Ricardian households with liquidity constraints. Results of the study indicate that the share of non-Ricardians has significant impact on fiscal multipliers. The government spending multiplier reaches 3 in the country with highest share of non- Ricardian households, whereas in the country with lowest share of non-Ricardians is lower than one. Also effects of government spending shocks on consumption are very sensitive to the share of households with liquidity constraints.
Implementation of a 17 bits Pulse Width Modulation circuit using FPGA

This paper presents the implementation of a 17 bits digital pulse width modulator (DPWM). Smaller pulses were obtained using internal carry chains that are available in many FPGAs. Our proposed architecture minimizes the critical paths that influence the linearity and induces the creation of carry chains without the use of adders. The frequency of the DPWM is 90.5kHz with a resolution of approximately 80ps, and the clock frequency is 46.34MHz.
Prognostic role of minimal residual disease in mature B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia of childhood.

PURPOSE To study the prevalence of t(8;14) at diagnosis and the response kinetics to treatment of minimal residual disease (MRD) in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) patients and determine its impact on prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 68 children affected by de novo B-ALL enrolled onto the Berlin-Frankfurt-Muenster-based Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology LNH-97 clinical protocol were studied. Bone marrow aspirate from each patient was analyzed for the presence of t(8;14)(q24;q32) by long-distance polymerase chain reaction at diagnosis, after the first chemotherapy cycle, and after subsequent cycles until negative for MRD. Morphologic and immunophenotypic analyses were reviewed centrally. RESULTS A total of 47 patients (69%) were positive for t(8;14)(q24;q32). MRD response kinetics was determined in 39 patients. All of them reached clinical complete remission and most (31 of 39) became MRD negative after the first chemotherapy cycle. The 3-year relapse-free survival (RFS) was 38% (SE = 17%) in patients MRD positive after the first chemotherapy cycle compared with 84% (SE = 7%) in MRD-negative patients (P = .0005), whereas there was no difference in RFS for children who reached a clinical complete remission after the first chemotherapy cycle versus those who did not (RFS = 72% and SE = 9%; RFS = 79% and SE = 11%, respectively; P = .8). In multivariate analysis, MRD was shown to be predictive of higher risk of failure. CONCLUSION Our study demonstrated that MRD carries a negative prognostic impact in B-ALL patients and suggests that a better risk-adapted therapy, possibly including the use of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, should be considered in selected patients.
Group Psychotherapy: A Long-term Follow-up Study

• Forty-two randomly selected patients were interviewed 2 to 14 years after termination of psychoanalytic group therapy. Comparison of psychodynamic changes in patients who stayed less than six months with those in patients who stayed more than two years gave a null result. The majority of patients were highly dissatisfied with their group experiences. However, there was a very strong positive correlation between favorable outcome and previous individual psychotherapy . Thirteen patients were then studied who were selected by their group therapists as having done well. These patients gave strong evidence of beneficial therapeutic effects, but such patients appear to be rare. These results (1) suggest how this form of treatment might be improved, and (2) raise questions about the appropriateness of transferring to group treatment the strictly psychoanalytic approach as used with individuals.
Recommendation Systems and Sales Concentration: The Moderating Effects of Consumers' Product Awareness and Acceptance to Recommendations

This research investigates how recommendation systems affect sales concentration in the e-market. In the literature, there have been two opposite theories accounting for this issue: the winner-take-all theory and the long tail theory. The former predicts that the market will be homogenized by recommendation systems, whereas the later predicts that the market will be fragmented. We argue that both directions of influence are possible, depending on the types of products that recommendation systems favor. Furthermore, we argue that the effects of recommendation systems are moderated by consumers' cognitive states before and after they encounter the systems, namely their awareness of products and their acceptance level to recommendations. We used the simulation method on the MovieLens dataset, which consists of 100,000 ratings from 943 users on 1682 movies. The simulation results support our hypotheses, showing that, relative to the condition of no recommendation, the content-based recommendation systems tend to decrease sales concentration, whereas the collaborative filtering tends to increase it. Moreover, the magnitudes of increase and decrease are moderated by consumers' awareness type and acceptance level.