Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corticosteroids for maintaining remission of Crohn's disease.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of conventional systemic corticosteroid therapy in maintaining clinical remission in Crohn's disease. SEARCH STRATEGY A computer-assisted search of the on-line bibliographic database MEDLINE of studies published in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German between 1966 and May, 1998. Manual searches of the reference lists from the potentially relevant studies were performed in order to identify additional studies that may have been missed using the computer-assisted search strategy. Proceedings from major gastrointestinal meetings were also manually searched from 1985 to 1997 in order to identify unpublished studies. The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Review Group Trials Register were also searched. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials involving patients of any age with Crohn's disease in clinical remission as defined by a CDAI < 150 or by the presence of no symptoms or only mild symptoms at the time of entry into the trial. The experimental treatment consisted of oral conventional corticosteroid therapy (excluding budesonide, fluticasone, etc). Clinical disease relapse was used as the outcome measure of interest. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Eligible studies were selected by 4 reviewers and data were extracted onto standardized data extraction forms. Disagreements in eligibility or data extraction were resolved by consensus. Data were converted into individual 2x2 tables for each study. The presence of significant heterogeneity among studies was tested using the chi-square test. The 2x2 tables were synthesized into a summary test statistic using the pooled odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals as described by Cochran and Mantel and Haenszel (the 'odds ratio' in MetaView). A fixed effects model was used for the pooling of data. MAIN RESULTS Four studies were initially judged as being eligible for inclusion. After obtaining additional information on one of the studies it was excluded because it was not double-blind. The total number of subjects included in the analysis at the time points of 6, 12 and 24 months were 142, 131 and 95 for the corticosteroid group and 161, 138 and 87 for the control group. The odds ratios for relapse on active treatment and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals were 0.71 (0.39, 1.31), 0.82 (0.47, 1.43) and 0.72 (0.38, 1.35) at 6, 12 and 24 months. The numbers needed to treat with corticosteroids to prevent one additional relapse were 24, 35, 15 respectively. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS The use of conventional systemic corticosteroids in patients with clinically quiescent Crohn's disease does not appear to reduce the risk of relapse over a 24 month period of follow-up.
The Effect of Brand Leadership Styles on Employees' Brand Citizenship Behavior

Internal branding relatively new constructs in marketing literature. It is assumes adequate internal branding practices could enhance overall brand performance through employees’ brand consistent behavior. This study conceptualized employees’ brand consistent behavior as brand citizenship behavior. The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship between transactional and transformational brand leadership and brand citizenship behavior. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 286 respondents from 3-5 star rating hotels from northern states of Malaysia namely; Perlis, Kedah and Penang. The findings revealed that transactional and transformational brand leadership have a significant positive relationship on brand citizenship behavior. However, transformational brand leadership is more dominant in explaining brand citizenship behavior. Future research should focus on other internal branding practices as well as a new context mainly to enhance the superiority of the concept.
Temperature Dependent Dynamics in a 1550-nm VCSEL Subject to Polarized Optical Injection

We report the first comprehensive experimental analysis on the dynamics of an optically injected 1550-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) over a wide temperature range going from -20°C to 60°C . We show the variations with temperature on the measured stability maps of the 1550-nm VCSEL when subject to parallel and orthogonal polarized optical injection and for different applied bias currents above threshold. The change in the shape of the stable locking region with temperature with the device subject to parallel polarized optical injection is attributed to the change of linewidth enhancement factor (α). In addition, we also show the changes of the polarization switching and locking regions with temperature for the case of orthogonal polarized optical injection.
An update on the clinical pharmacology of the dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor alogliptin used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Alogliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP‐4) inhibitor that is a class of relatively new oral hypoglycaemic drugs used in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), can be used as monotherapy or in combination with other anti‐diabetic agents, including metformin, pioglitazone, sulfonylureas and insulin with a considerable therapeutic effect. Alogliptin exhibits favorable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles in humans. Alogliptin is mainly metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP2D6) and CYP3A4. Dose reduction is recommended for patients with moderate or worse renal impairment. Side effects of alogliptin include nasopharyngitis, upper‐respiratory tract infections and headache. Hypoglycaemia is seen in about 1.5% of the T2DM patients. Rare but severe adverse reactions such as acute pancreatitis, serious hypersensitivity including anaphylaxis, angioedema and severe cutaneous reactions such as Stevens‐Johnson syndrome have been reported from post‐marketing monitoring. Pharmacokinetic interactions have not been observed between alogliptin and other drugs including glyburide, metformin, pioglitazone, insulin and warfarin. The present review aimed to update the clinical information on pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, adverse effects and drug interactions, and to discuss the future directions of alogliptin.
Female university students' attitudes to future motherhood and their understanding about fertility

Objectives As highly educated women tend to postpone childbearing, the purpose was to explore female university students' attitudes to future motherhood and their understanding about fertility. Methods Female students (n = 300), visiting a Student Health Centre in Sweden, answered a questionnaire with mainly multiple choice questions and verbal rating scales. Results The women wanted to have two to three children at the age of 29 for the first birth and 35 for the last. Only 2.7% did not plan to have any children. Six out of 10 would consider having an abortion if confronted with an unplanned pregnancy ‘right now’. The most important circumstances for women's decision to have children were to be sufficiently mature, have a stable partner to share parenthood with, have completed studies and have a good economy. Having children before they got ‘too old’ was only ranked as very important by 18% of women. The women had an acceptable understanding about fertility. Conclusions It appears that female university students are not very concerned about having children before they get ‘too old’. Therefore, it is important that caregivers, working with contraceptive counselling also include information about fertility, especially to women who intend to postpone their motherhood.
Epidemiological characteristics, management and early outcome of acute myocardial infarction in Greece: the HELlenic Infarction Observation Study.

INTRODUCTION Taking into consideration the need for an updated survey on acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Greece, we conducted the HELIOS study (HELlenic Infarction Observation Study), aiming to recruit a cohort of AMI patients that would be representative of the total AMI population. METHODS The HELIOS study is a countrywide registry of AMI, conducted during 2005-2006 by the Prevention Working Group of the Hellenic Cardiological Society. We enrolled 1840 AMI pts from 31 hospitals (mean age 68 +/- 13 years, 75% men, 1096 ST-elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI] patients), with a proportional representation of all types of hospitals and of all geographical areas. The study recruited 10% of the total number of AMI cases that occur per year on a countrywide basis, taking into consideration the seasonal variations of the population in each geographical area. RESULTS Despite demographic changes, there is still a male predominance among AMI patients and an increasing prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors, (obesity, diabetes, hypertension) compared to previous AMI studies in the Greek population. Almost 60% of STEMI patients received reperfusion therapy, but the median value of the pain-to-door time was 180 minutes. The rates of administration of evidence-based medications during hospitalisation or upon discharge and the short-term mortality rates were in accordance with those observed in other international AMI registries. CONCLUSIONS The HELIOS study provided valuable insights into the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, management and outcome of patients with AMI in the Greek population. Although there are notable advances compared to previous reports, there is still considerable room for improvement and we should particularly focus on minimising the time delay between arrival at the emergency department and performance of reperfusion, by either pharmacological or catheter-based approaches.
Physical evidence of mode conversion along mode-selective transmission line

This work investigates mode conversion along a longitudinally uniform mode-selective transmission line (MSTL) and demonstrates physical evidence of the mode conversion. Mode conversion of the fundamental mode is observed through examining the field distributions of the MSTL. Characteristic mode conversion frequency is defined based on the distribution properties of the longitudinal magnetic field component and the intrinsic physical implications. The accuracy and effectiveness of this definition are verified numerically and experimentally. The result indicates that a quasi-TEM fundamental mode and a quasi-TE10 fundamental mode dominate in the MSTL below and above this frequency, respectively. This mode conversion could have specific applications in the design of microwave, millimeter-wave, and THz wideband and multi-band components and systems.
Wave Analysis in Patients with Sarcoidosis

Introduction: Atrial arrhythmias in patients with sarcoidosis (Sar) are not unusual and can occur due to either atrial myocardial fibrosis and/or due to autonomic nervous system imbalance. Electrocardiographic markers (ECG), like maximum and minimum P wave duration and P wave dispersion {Pdis = Pmax − Pmin} reflect atrial depolarization inhomogeneity and can indicate patients prone to develop atrial arrhythmias while standard deviation of RR interval (SDNN) is an index of heart rate variability, reflecting autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity. Methods: 90 patients with sarcoidosis (41 males/49 females) enrolled in this multicenter prospective study underwent digital electrocardiography, echocardiography and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). Diastolic and systolic indices of right and left ventricle were measured echocardiographically including Doppler parameters while Pmax, Pmin, Pdis and SDNN were measured in a 5minute duration digital electrocardiogram. All consecutive patients were compared to 65 healthy volunteers (30 males/35 females). Results: Although heart rate and the echocardiographic indices were similar among the two groups, the electrocardiographic indices were significantly prolonged in the patient group compared to controls. Maximum P wave duration was correlated with SDNN (p < 0.05, r = −0.272) and the age of the patients (p < 0.05, r = 0.219) while Pdis was correlated with SDNN (p < 0.001, r = 0.350) and the heart rate (p < 0.005, r = 0.323). Multivariate analysis showed that Pmax and Pdis were independently correlated with SDNN. Conclusion: P wave dispersion is significantly increased in patients with systemic sarcoidosis compared to healthy persons while maximum P wave duration and P wave dispersion are negatively correlated with the standard deviation of RR, an index of heart rate variability implying imbalance of ANS function. Further studies are needed for the clarification of the significance of this correlation.
Cytogenetics of infertile men.

Chromosomally derived sterility has long been recognized. A review of the literature of somatic chromosome investigations in infertile males has shown that 13.7% of azoospermic males and 4.6% of oligozoospermic males have an abnormal karyotype. In the first group, sex chromosome abnormalities predominate (mainly 47,XXY), whereas in the latter, autosome anomalies (i.e. Robertsonian and reciprocal translocations) are the most frequent. A similar review on meiotic studies revealed that meiotic chromosome anomalies can explain male infertility in 4.3-40.4% of patients. Recently, fluorescent in-situ hybridization studies on spermatozoa from infertile men were published; it was suggested that both X-Y pairing and pairing of the autosomes were impaired, resulting in spermatogenic disruption. We investigated cytogenetically 694 infertile men with abnormal sperm parameters. More patients are needed for this research to investigate the relationship, if any, between the type of chromosome abnormality and its influence on the number, morphology and motility of spermatozoa. To be able to provide proper counselling for those couples whose male infertility can now be treated by intracytoplasmic sperm injection, it is suggested that clinical investigations should include mitotic and meiotic studies, an analysis of the chromosome content of individual spermatozoa and a DNA analysis of blood and spermatozoa to detect partially deleted Y chromosome material.
‘What would my classmates say?’ An international study of the prediction‐based method of course evaluation

Objectives Traditional student feedback questionnaires are imperfect course evaluation tools, largely because they generate low response rates and are susceptible to response bias. Preliminary research suggests that prediction‐based methods of course evaluation ‐ in which students estimate their peers’ opinions rather than provide their own personal opinions ‐ require significantly fewer respondents to achieve comparable results and are less subject to biasing influences. This international study seeks further support for the validity of these findings by investigating: (i) the performance of the prediction‐based method, and (ii) its potential for bias.
Arterial stiffness and hormone replacement use in healthy postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND Arterial stiffness has been shown to be positively related to cardiovascular disease risk. Little, however, is known about the influence of hormone replacement use on arterial stiffness in females. METHODS Arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV) and carotid augmentation index (AI, applanation tonometry) were measured in 34 healthy postmenopausal women, including users (n = 18) and nonusers (n = 16) of hormone replacement. RESULTS There were no significant group differences in any of the physical characteristics including resting blood pressure. None of the measures of arterial stiffness differed between user and nonusers of hormone replacement. CONCLUSIONS The present cross-sectional study indicates that reduced arterial stiffness does not appear to be a likely mechanism contributing to the lower incidence of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women taking hormone replacement.
Pathology of the Superior Colliculus in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

PURPOSE To investigate neuropathological changes in the superior colliculus in chronic traumatic encephalopathy. METHODS The densities of the tau-immunoreactive neurofibrillary tangles, neuropil threads, dot-like grains, astrocytic tangles, and neuritic plaques, together with abnormally enlarged neurons, typical neurons, vacuolation, and frequency of contacts with blood vessels, were studied across the superior colliculus from pia mater to the periaqueductal gray in eight chronic traumatic encephalopathy and six control cases. RESULTS Tau-immunoreactive pathology was absent in the superior colliculus of controls but present in varying degrees in all chronic traumatic encephalopathy cases, significant densities of tau-immunoreactive neurofibrillary tangles, NT, or dot-like grains being present in three cases. No significant differences in overall density of the tau-immunoreactive neurofibrillary tangles, neuropil threads, dot-like grains, enlarged neurons, vacuoles, or contacts with blood vessels were observed in control and chronic traumatic encephalopathy cases, but chronic traumatic encephalopathy cases had significantly lower mean densities of neurons. The distribution of surviving neurons across the superior colliculus suggested greater neuronal loss in intermediate and lower laminae in chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Changes in density of the tau-immunoreactive pathology across the laminae were variable, but in six chronic traumatic encephalopathy cases, densities of tau-immunoreactive neurofibrillary tangles, neuropil threads, or dot-like grains were significantly greater in intermediate and lower laminae. Pathological changes were not correlated with the distribution of blood vessels. CONCLUSIONS The data suggest significant pathology affecting the superior colliculus in a proportion of chronic traumatic encephalopathy cases with a laminar distribution which could compromise motor function rather than sensory analysis.
Progress In Reducing The Burden Of Stroke*

1. The burden of stroke worldwide is growing rapidly, driven by an ageing population and by the rapid rate of urbanization and industrialization in the developing world. There are approximately 5 million fatal and 15 million non‐fatal strokes each year and over 50 million survivors of stroke alive, worldwide, today.
Variability of human milk neutral oligosaccharides in a diverse population.

BACKGROUND A complex array of free oligosaccharides is a distinctive compositional feature of human milk. Although these oligosaccharides have been studied for several years, their variability and distribution have not been systematically studied, and their nutritional and functional roles have not been elucidated. This report describes a study in which a large number of human milk samples were analyzed for the presence and content of nine neutral oligosaccharides. The resultant data were used to probe for distribution trends by donor groups and stage of lactation. METHODS Milk samples from 435 women residing in 10 countries were analyzed using a simple preparation procedure, gel filtration, and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography. RESULTS All samples contained structures based on lacto-N-neotetraose and lacto-N-tetraose. This contrasts with the fucosyloligosaccharides tested, none of which was detected in 100% of the samples. Unexpected distribution trends were observed. For example, 100% of the samples from Mexico (n = 156) contained 2'-fucosyllactose, whereas only 46% of the samples from the Philippines (n = 22) contained this structure. Concentration ranges for the analyzed oligosaccharides revealed quantitative and qualitative distribution trends. CONCLUSIONS The oligosaccharide composition of human milk varied among samples. The geographical origin of the donors was one of the factors that accounted for this variability. This can be explained by genetically determined traits that are not uniformly distributed. Results indicated that further systematic studies are needed to ascertain the effect of other factors, such as lactation stage or diet.
The activities and participation categories of the ICF Core Sets for multiple sclerosis from the patient perspective

Purpose: To validate the activities and participation components of The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 113 Finnish community-dwelling persons with MS were assessed using a semi-structured interview provided by the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) to capture participants’ self-perceived problems in everyday activities and participation. Problems were linked to the ICF categories. Results: Participants identified 527 of the most important occupational performance problems. They covered all chapters of the ICF Activities and Participation components. Forty-one categories out of a total 53 ICF activities and participation categories of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set and four out of five categories of the Brief ICF Core Set were reported on by the participants. The most common category in this sample, ‘d920 Recreation and leisure’ (145 problems/27.5%), is not included in the Brief ICF Core Set. Conclusions: Most, but not all, ICF activities and participation categories of the ICF Core Sets for MS could be confirmed from the perspective of persons with MS. It is worth considering to add category ‘d920 Recreation and leisure’ to the Brief ICF Core Set. Implications for Rehabilitation The perceived problems of persons with MS support current versions of the ICF Core Sets for MS. The subjective experiences of prioritized problems encountered in everyday life vary considerably among community-dwelling persons with MS. Persons with MS often experience problems with recreation and leisure activities. Experiences of patient about recreation and leisure activities should be asked more systematically during rehabilitation process and the role of recreation and leisure should be considered when further developing the Brief ICF Core Sets for MS.
CCR7 regulates lymphocyte egress and recirculation through body cavities

T and B lymphocytes recirculate among blood, lymph, and extralymphoid tissues to ensure immune surveillance and the establishment of self‐tolerance. The underlying mechanisms regulating homeostatic lymphocyte recirculation through body cavities are not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that the homeostatic chemokine receptor CCR7 regulates homeostatic recirculation of lymphocytes through body cavities. CCR7 deficiency results in massive accumulation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and B‐2 B cells in the peritoneal and pleural cavities. The increase in B‐2 B and T lymphocytes is not associated with an altered maturation and/or activation status of these cells. Mechanistically, an increase in peritoneal lymphocyte numbers is caused by impaired egress of CCR7‐deficient lymphocytes from body cavities. These results establish that CCR7 plays a crucial role in lymphocyte exit from the PerC.