Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Novel Anticoagulants: Should All AF Patients Now Be Anticoagulated?

Abstract: Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is accompanied by an increased risk for thromboembolic events in most affected patients. Current guidelines therefore recommend antithrombotic therapy with vitamin K antagonist (VKA) or non VKA oral anticoagulant (NOAC) in the majority of AF patients. Current AF treatment guidelines recommend that only patients younger than 65 years of age with lone AF, meaning without further concomitant risk factors for thromboembolic events should not be anticoagulated. NOACs, like the direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran and the factor X inhibitors rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban have undergone large phase III clinical trials concerning treatment efficacy and bleeding risk in comparison to the VKA warfarin. In most cases, treatment with NOACs has been shown to decrease thromboembolic risk and/or decrease bleeding risk when compared with warfarin. Especially, as major hemorrhages like life threatening or intracranial bleeds are reduced, the question arises, if due to favourable adverse event ratios the indication for oral anticoagulation therapy should be broadened and all patients with diagnosed AF should be anticoagulated. This article gives a review on currently used thromboembolic and bleeding risk scores. Furthermore, the impact of NOAC therapy on stroke and bleeding risk is summarized, especially taking pharmacological interactions of NOAC therapy altering thromboembolic or bleeding risk into consideration. Differences of currently available guidelines are discussed. Finally, ongoing recent studies on treatment of low risk patients are debated.
Evaluating a brief self-report measure of neighborhood environments for physical activity research and surveillance: Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale (PANES).

BACKGROUND Neighborhood environment attributes of walkability and access to recreation facilities have been related to physical activity and weight status, but most self-report environment measures are lengthy. The 17-item PANES (Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale) was developed to be comprehensive but brief enough for use in multipurpose surveys. The current study evaluated test-retest and alternate-form reliability of PANES items compared with multi-item subscales from the longer NEWS-A (Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale--Abbreviated). METHODS Participants were 291 adults recruited from neighborhoods that varied in walkability in 3 US cities. Surveys were completed twice with a 27-day interval. RESULTS Test-retest ICCs for PANES items ranged from . 52 to . 88. Spearman correlations for the PANES single item vs NEWS-A subscale comparisons ranged from . 27 to . 81 (all P < .01). CONCLUSIONS PANES items related to land use mix, residential density, pedestrian infrastructure, aesthetic qualities, and safety from traffic and crime were supported by correlations with NEWS-A subscales. Access to recreation facilities and street connectivity items were not supported. The brevity of PANES allows items to be included in studies or surveillance systems to expand knowledge about neighborhood environments.
Mental Disorder and Dangerousness

Psychiatrists are called upon to make judgements on the future dangerousness of mentally disordered subjects in civil commitment procedures, in the criminal courts, and during the decision process on the release of offenders on indeterminate sentences or committals. The ability of psychiatrists to make these judgements is increasingly under challenge. The difficulties of making useful predictions when the base rate for the event to be predicted is low, is now well recognised. Less obvious are the problems attendant upon making socially useful predictions on psychiatric grounds in populations with a high base rate for future offending. The evidence pertaining to the level of violence amongst the mentally disordered is reviewed. The lesson to be drawn from the empirical evidence is that mental abnormality of and in itself contributes littie to the prediction of the predisposition to act violently. The question remains as to whether there are definable groups or classes within the generality of mentally abnormal individuals for whom there is an increased risk of future violence. It would be compatible with both the research studies and common clinical impression if the mentally abnormal contained subgroups with unusually violent predispositions balanced by larger groups with less than average propensities to aggression. The literature is largely inadequate to delineate such high risk groups with the degree of certainty ideally needed to instruct clinical decisions, but does suggest that such groups exist and are capable of further empirical definition.
Infantile Pyloric Stenosis

It would seem, from the studies of Carter and Powell (1954) and of McKeown, MacMahon and Record (1952), that both genetic and environmental factors play a part in the aetiology and development of infantile pyloric stenosis. The latter group of workers have stressed the importance of postnatal environmental influences. Their studies, based on data derived from more than 1,000 cases treated in the Children's Hospital, Birmingham, between 1940 and 1951, showed that symptoms, on average, developed later in babies born in hospital than in those delivered at home, and in first-born than in those born subsequently. In an earlier survey, based on 578 cases operated on between 1945 and 1950, they (McKeown et al., 1951c) had also found that the size of the tumour was roughly proportional to the age of the baby at operation. These observations, coupled with the rarity with which the tumour is found at birth, strongly suggested not only that the growth of the tumour was a post-natal phenomenon, but also that its rate of growth was conditioned by post-natal factors. The purpose of the present study was first to confirm, by direct measurement of the tumour at operation, that its size was indeed proportional to the age of the baby; secondly to enquire into possible post-natal influences determining its rate of development; and thirdly to attempt to evaluate the role of genetic factors.
Tax Clienteles and Implicit Taxes: Interaction of Multiple Clienteles in Financial Markets

implications for implicit taxes on stocks (with varying dividend yields) and municipalbonds that differ from the extant literature and might explain the failure of empiricalstudies to support the predictions of single-marginal clientele models. In particular,implicit taxes on equity possess an inverted trapezoid shape (non-monotonic) as a functionof dividend yield. Municipal bond implicit taxes depend on a variety of details of theequity market.I will proceed as follows. Section I reviews the literature on tax clientele modelsin finance and empirical studies on the effect of taxes on stock and municipal bond returnsand prices. Section II develops a model of relative returns and clientele portfolios in amarket with stocks (with a distribution of dividend yields), taxable bonds, and municipalbonds. Section III derives equilibrium implicit taxes on equity and relates these predictionsto the empirical literature, while Section IV derives equilibrium implicit taxes on municipalbonds. Section V concludes the paper. The Appendix contains proofs of all thepropositions in the paper.I. Literature on tax clienteles, implicit taxes, and tax capitalizationNumerous studies have considered the effect of taxes on fi nancial marketequilibrium, both in terms of rates of return and price levels. The two principal focuses ofthe literature have been tax-free municipal bonds and corporate equity, especially withrespect to variation in dividend payments.Traditional mod els of municipal bond yields assume that a clientele arbitragesmunicipal bonds and taxable bonds (U.S. Treasury or corporate). Since municipal bondsgenerate no tax liability on the interest they generate, these models predict that municipal
The SLC22A12 gene is associated with gout in Han Chinese and Solomon Islanders

Gout is characterised by monosodium urate crystals in hyperuricaemic individuals.1 2 Impaired excretion of urate exacerbates this condition.1 Urate transporter 1 (encoded by SLC22A12 ) is an urate–anion exchanger in the kidneys mediating urate transportation across the apical membrane of the proximal tubules.3 4 SLC22A12 has been reported to influence urate homeostasis in Caucasian and Japanese populations5,–,8 but single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype effects on gout are unclear. We studied four SLC22A12 SNP associations with gout and urate levels in male Han Chinese from Taiwan and Solomon Islanders. Clinical rheumatologists confirmed gout/tophi cases using American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria.9 Our controls had no diagnosis of gout and were not medicated with hypouricaemic agents during outpatient visits. We enrolled 115 …
Assessment of the determinant of choice of ‘over the counter’ analgesics among students of a university in Abbottabad, Pakistan

Purpose: To ascertain the preference of COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan (CIIT) students for various ‘over the counter’ analgesics. Methods: This cross-sectional survey study on self-medication of ibuprofen in students of CIIT was conducted in July - August 2013 using a self-administered questionnaire. Five hundred students with an average age of 20 - 25 years cooperated in this inquisition. The questionnaire contained 18 questions including socio-demographic queries, economical status, perception of the frequency of pain, their locality, and behavior and knowledge of participants on the use of ibuprofen regarding its therapeutic and adverse effects, and interactions. Results: Out of the 500 participants in the study, 70.4 % were female. The response rate was 68.2 %. Ibuprofen (54 %) was the most used analgesic of all the NSAIDs among the respondents. Approximately, 11.2 % of the respondents reported that they suffer from pain almost every day. The younger and more educated respondents had better level of awareness about the ibuprofen’s indications as compared to those who had low level of education. Of the respondents, 29.6 % were not aware of any side effect caused by ibuprofen. Approximately, 22.4 % of the respondents had no knowledge of the interactions of ibuprofen while 61.2 % of the participants consult a physician about painkillers. Conclusion: Although many of the students undergo almost daily pain and favor ibuprofen over other NSAIDs analgesics among but they still lack information on its appropriate handling and safety. The overall result of the survey indicates very low level of information about the drug interaction.
Transformational leadership and employee psychological well-being: The mediating role of employee trust in leadership

The relationship between employees’ perceptions of their managers’ transformational leadership style and employees’ psychological well-being was examined in two studies. In Study 1, trust in the leader fully mediated the positive relationship between perceptions of managers’ transformational leadership and employee psychological well-being in a cross-sectional sample (n=436). Study 2 (n=269) (1) replicated the mediated effect found in Study 1; (2) extended the model by showing that active management-by-exception and laissez-faire behaviours negatively affected employee psychological well-being by reducing trust in the manager; and (3) excluded the possibility that these results were accounted for by individual differences or liking of the manager. Theoretical and practical applications, as well as directions for future research are discussed.
Complement Receptor 3 Deficiency Influences Lesion Progression during Leishmania major Infection in BALB/c Mice

ABSTRACT Leishmania major is an obligately intracellular protozoan parasite that causes cutaneous leishmaniasis. Like numerous intracellular pathogens, Leishmania exploits cell surface receptors as a means of entry into host cells. Complement receptor 3 (CR3; also called CD11b/CD18), a β2 integrin on phagocytic cells, is one such receptor. Ligation of CR3 has been shown to inhibit the production of interleukin-12, the cytokine that is pivotal in establishing the cell-mediated response necessary to combat intracellular infection. Here we investigate the role that CR3 plays in the establishment and progression of cutaneous leishmaniaisis in vivo. Dermal lesions of wild-type BALB/c mice are characteristically progressive and lead to extensive tissue necrosis coupled with elevated parasite burdens; CD11b-deficient BALB/c mice, however, demonstrate an intermediate phenotype characterized by chronic lesions and a reduced incidence of tissue damage. Infection followed by a reinfection challenge indicates that both susceptible (BALB/c) and resistant (C57BL/6) mice, regardless of CD11b status, develop resistance to L. major. In addition, CD11b does not bias the T helper cytokine response to L. major infection. Our results further indicate that CD11b is not necessary for disease resolution in resistant mice; rather, this protein appears to play a minor role in susceptibility.
Anti-Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Antibodies (ASCA), Phenotypes of IBD, and Intestinal Permeability: A Study in IBD Families

BackgroundSerologic markers anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies with perinuclear staining (pANCA) have been proposed to study the immunopathogenesis of IBD. Their measurement may allow better phenotyping of the disease and the detection of subclinical disease. AimsTo test the hypothesis that serological markers identify an immunologic trait related to disease susceptibility. We also wanted to test the hypothesis that ASCA is a marker related to abnormal tissue permeation by common antigens. MethodsWe studied the prevalence of pANCA and ASCA in a large cohort of sporadic and familial inflammatory bowel diseases and their unaffected relatives and spouses. Kinetics of ASCA was studied and the relationship between ASCA and 51Cr-EDTA intestinal permeation was investigated. ResultsASCA was associated with sporadic Crohn's disease (CD) (63%), with Crohn's patients belonging to pure CD families (62%) and also with their unaffected family members (21%). pANCA was associated with UC (58%). The prevalence of ASCA in CD patients belonging to mixed families was strikingly low (33%). ASCA was a stable marker throughout the disease and was not related to an increased small intestinal permeability. ConclusionASCA is strongly associated with familial CD in Belgium, and 21% of healthy family members also display the marker. The association is much weaker in patients belonging to mixed families. ASCA is a stable marker and is not a secondary phenomenon due to increased intestinal permeability.
Ultrasound-Guided vs. Fluoroscopy-Guided Caudal Epidural Steroid Injection for the Treatment of Unilateral Lower Lumbar Radicular Pain: A Prospective, Randomized, Single-Blind Clinical Study

Objective The aim of this study was to compare the short-term effects and advantages of ultrasound-guided caudal epidural steroid injections with fluoroscopy-guided epidural steroid injections for unilateral radicular pain in the lower lumbar spine. Design A total of 120 patients with unilateral radicular pain were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the fluoroscopy or the ultrasound group. Complication frequencies during the procedures, treatment effects, functional improvement, and adverse events were compared after the procedures. Results The verbal numerical rating scale and the Oswestry Disability Index improved 2 and 12 wks after the injections in both groups. Statistical differences were not observed in the verbal numerical rating scale, the Oswestry Disability Index, or the effectiveness of the procedure between the groups. Two cases of intravascular injections were observed in the fluoroscopy group, without the prevalence of complication between the groups. Conclusions The ultrasound approach with color Doppler mode may avoid intravascular injection–induced complications. The results showed similar improvements in short-term pain relief, function, and patient satisfaction with both ultrasound and fluoroscopic guidance.
Exploitation of the Datawarehouse in the Hotels Services: A Proposal of Client Orientation

Agent technology promises to increase the flexibility and power of distributed management systems and services. This paper describes the suggested work that is aiming to understand the practical implications and benefits of applying agent technology to the management of distributed project and resources using Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) as the underlying messaging service provider and RDF (Resource Description Framework) as metadata structure. The OSWP (Open Science Workplace) is a tool planned to manage distributed resources and projects on the web. Agents seem to play a central role in enhancing flexibility, user friendliness and productivity both for the end users and top managers. Agents can support the finding of resources and provide solutions for managing tasks.
Social reference points

The authors performed two experiments in which subjects were asked to makesimilarity judgments about social concepts, varying the direction of the compar-ison specified by the question. Asymmetries in rated similarity were used todiagnose concepts that function as habitual reference points. In Experiment 1subjects rated a friend as more similar to themselves than vice versa along bothsocial and physical dimensions, suggesting that the self served as a reference point.In Experiment 2 subjects made global similarity comparisons between themselvesand typical examples of various social stereotypes. Directional asymmetries wereinversely related to the extent of subjects' knowledge about the stereotypes: Theself acted as a reference point with respect to stereotypes with few known attributesbut not with respect to those with many attributes. The relation between levelof self-monitoring and asymmetry effects was weak and inconsistent across thetwo experiments. The results suggest that concepts serving as social referencepoints vary across judgment contexts in accord with general cognitive models ofsimilarity comparisons.
Cambial phenology, wood formation and temperature thresholds in two contrasting years at high altitude in southern Italy.

Xylogenesis was monitored during 2003 and 2004 in a timberline environment in southern Italy to assess links between temperature, cambial phenology and wood formation on a short-time scale. Wood microcores were collected weekly from May to October from 10 trees of Pinus leucodermis Ant. , histological sections were cut with a rotary microtome and anatomical features of the developing and mature tracheids were observed and measured along the growing tree ring. Spring 2003 was hotter than spring 2004, with temperatures up to 2.6 degrees C above historical means. The hotter conditions resulted in an earlier onset of cambial activity and all differentiation phases of about 20 days, resulting in an increased duration of xylogenesis of about 23 days. Air and stem temperatures at which xylogenesis had a 0.5 probability of being active were calculated with logistic regressions fitted on binary responses. In both years, similar thresholds were estimated with daily mean values of 8.2 and 9.5 degrees C for air and stem temperatures, respectively. The observed convergent responses of cambium phenology to temperature during the two contrasting springs confirm the key role of this environmental factor in determining the onset and duration of wood formation in timberline areas. The intra-annual dynamics of ring-width increase differed between years, with significantly narrower rings formed in 2004 than in 2003. These differences were mainly related to cell size because larger earlywood tracheids were produced in 2003. This study demonstrates the plasticity of tree-ring formation in response to high temperatures as a result of modifications in the onset and duration of differentiation.
Fluconazole Prophylaxis in Neonates (Non-Systematic) Literature Review

Background: Nosocomial infection remains an important contributing factor for morbidity and mortality in neonates. Coagulase-negative staphylococci have emerged as the predominant pathogens of late onset sepsis. This is followed by staphylococcus aurous, gram negative bacilli, and fungi. Old studies noted that mortality due to candidemia was higher in infants weigh less than 2000 g after being exposed to risk factors. The prophylactic use of fluconazole for the prevention of IC in extremely low birth weight was first reported in 2001. Methods: Current guidelines from Europe and North America that refer to the treatment of fungal infections are included. Literature search was performed using Medline, Scopus and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials through March, 2016. Conclusion: Mortality was not different in early studies. However, recent studies concluded that mortality was reduced in the fluconazole arms. Risk-based approach towards fluconazole prophylaxis seems to be safe and effective.
Multidisciplinary management of colorectal adenocarcinoma associated with anal fistula: an Indian series

Adenocarcinomas associated with anal fistula are rare and often present at an advanced stage. They are often mistaken for commonly occurring benign diseases, leading to delayed diagnosis. Previous reports have predicted inferior oncological outcomes for these cases compared with sporadic rectal cancers. We are presenting our series of patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma associated with anal fistula who were treated with multimodality therapy at a tertiary cancer centre in India.
IDENTIFICATION OF SOIL QUALITY FACTORS AND INDICATORS FOR THE LOESS PLATEAU OF CHINA

Soil quality has been significantly degraded in the Loess Plateau of China by soil erosion. Our objectives were to (i) identify regional-scale soil quality factors (groupings), (ii) select soil attributes within these factors that can be used as indicators of soil quality, and (iii) determine the impact of land use on these soil quality factors and indicators for the Loess Plateau in China. Soil samples were taken from the 0- to 20-cm depth in five catchments with 10 different land use types, and 32 soil properties were determined. Through principal component and discriminant analyses, the five critical soil quality factors identified were organic matter, texture, phosphorus, porosity, and microstructure. Within these factors, the individual attributes that best served as indicators of soil quality were organic matter, hydraulic conductivity, antiscourability, cation exchange capacity, invertase, mean weight diameter of aggregate, available phosphorous, and mean weight diameter of micro-aggregates. Among these indicators, available phosphorus, antiscourability, hydraulic conductivity, organic matter, and urease were highly sensitive to land use. Organic matter, hydraulic conductivity, and antiscourability were found to be the most important indicators to characterize soil quality in this loess plateau.