Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness and safety of mycophenolate mofetil in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Background Currently available antifibrotic treatments may slow down disease progression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), but are associated with potentially significant side effects and are costly. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is well known for its potent immunosuppressive properties and possesses important antiproliferative and antifibrotic effects. The safety and effectiveness of MMF in IPF is unknown. Methods We performed a retrospective multicohort analysis of IPF patients treated with MMF compared to those treated with either ineffective/harmful treatments or no treatment. Longitudinal change in forced vital capacity (FVC) between the groups was analyzed using a mixed model with random intercept and slope allowing for repeated measures within subjects. Categorical change in FVC, median overall survival, and adverse events were also assessed. Results Forty-one IPF patients were included: 11 treated with MMF, 20 treated with ineffective/harmful agents (such as prednisone, azathioprine, and/or NAC), and 10 did not receive any specific treatment for their IPF. After one year, there was a trend towards reduced FVC decline in the MMF-treated group (-76.3 mL, -2.4% of predicted) compared to the non-MMF-treated (-165 mL, -8.9% of predicted) and the no-treatment (-239 mL, -11.5% of predicted) groups, respectively. By categorical change, there was a trend towards greater FVC stability in the MMF-treated group (87.5%) compared to the non-MMF-treated (57%) and the no-treatment groups (50%), respectively. MMF-treated IPF patients had a trend towards improved median overall survival (40.3 months) compared to the non-MMF-treated (25.5 months) and the no-treatment (29.3 months) groups, respectively. Treatment-related adverse events were not different between groups; however, very few adverse events were reported overall. Conclusions MMF treatment was associated with potentially clinically important trends toward reduced annual FVC decline (similar to approved antifibrotics), greater FVC stability and improved overall survival in IPF patients. MMF was generally safe, well tolerated, and relatively inexpensive. Future prospective studies of MMF in combination with antifibrotic therapy in IPF are needed.
[Quality of life and characteristics of the external respiration function in patients with bronchial asthma].

AIM To investigate correlations between quality of life, bronchial obstruction, nonspecific bronchial hyperreactivity (NSBH) and response of these parameters to treatment with inhalation steroids in patients with bronchial asthma (BA). MATERIAL AND METHODS The study included 67 BA patients (47 women and 20 men) aged 18 to 62 years (mean age 43 years). 59 of them had the diagnosis of atopic BA, 8 had bacterial BA. Quality of life was assessed with the questionnaire AQLQ, bronchial obstruction was judged by forced expiratory volume per a second (FEV1). Bronchial hyperreactivity was studied with acetylcholine and histamine tests. RESULTS Quality of life strongly correlated with FEV1 and NSBH. Positive changes in the latter due to treatment with inhalation glucocorticoid budesonide (400 mcg/day) entailed improvement of life quality. CONCLUSION Bronchial obstruction and NSBH have a significant effect on BA patients' life quality which should be considered in monitoring of BA patients' condition.
Embryo reduction versus expectant management in triplet pregnancies.

OBJECTIVE In triplet pregnancies, to compare pregnancy outcome of expectant management with that after embryo reduction to twins. METHODS Retrospective study of 255 trichorionic triplet pregnancies, of which 185 had embryo reduction to twins (reduced group) and 70 were managed expectantly (non-reduced group). RESULTS Median birth weight was higher by about 500 g and gestation prolonged by about 3 weeks in the reduced pregnancies compared with the expectantly managed pregnancies (2300 vs. 1760 g; 36 vs. 33 weeks). The rates of preterm delivery were significantly lower in the reduced group (11.17 vs. 36.76% for delivery at < or = 32 weeks and 40.58 vs. 83.82% for delivery at < or = 35 weeks, reduced vs. non-reduced group). The percentage of infants born with low birth weight was significantly higher in the expectantly managed triplets (10.98 vs. 28.44% for birth weight < or = 1500 g and 68.55 vs. 92.89% for birth weight < or = 2500 g, reduced vs. non-reduced group). Total fetal loss was significantly higher in the reduced group than in the non-reduced group (15.41 and 4.76%, respectively) and the difference was mainly due to the higher miscarriage rate in the reduced group (8.11 vs. 2.86% in the non-reduced group). With the expected rates of handicap in preterm infants, we would anticipate 0.63% of severely handicapped children due to extreme prematurity in the reduced group and 1.64% in the non-reduced group. CONCLUSION In triplet pregnancies, embryo reduction to twins significantly reduces the risk of severe preterm delivery and very low birth weight by about one-third, at the expense of a significant increase in total fetal loss, by about one-quarter. The procedure is likely to reduce the risk of having a severely handicapped child due to extreme prematurity.
Improving the Creative Thinking of Talented Knowledge Workers and Managers in Polish and French Enterprises

Abstract The study considers the issue of creative and participatory activities of employees in the organization in the context of the changing socio-economic expectations, forcing employees, teams and executives to innovative activities. The planned research seeks an answer to the question: What factors attributable to the organization can help to improve the working conditions of knowledge workers classified as “talent”, teams of such employees and managers in charge of the work of outstanding employee teams in Poland and France? In order to answer such a question a questionnaire was developed (and subsequently validated) adjusted for purposes of the research and questionnaire research was conducted on a sample of 142 Polish workers in 23 medium-small enterprises, 84 employees from 10 companies in France. Workers considered to be particularly talented in both in Poland and France stressed in the first place the need of approval of deviating from accepted standards of work style by the entrepreneurs and board members. Members of the outstanding teams in somewhat greater number in France than in Poland (the variance obtained a criterion for statistical significance) pointed to the “favorable personnel policy” and the ability to obtain additional compensation for an above-average job. In the group of Polish managers “more autonomy” was clearly accentuated in the workplace (the French differed significantly from the Poles in terms of statistics) and already cited “favorable personnel policy”. The latter category was also nominated by the bulk of the French managers.
Recombinant Dimeric IgA Antibodies against the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mediate Effective Tumor Cell Killing

Dimeric IgA Abs contribute significantly to the humoral part of the mucosal immune system. However, their potential as immunotherapeutic agent has hardly been explored. In this article, we describe the production, purification, and functional evaluation of recombinant dimeric IgA against the epidermal growth factor receptor. Human joining chain-containing IgA was produced by nonadherent Chinese hamster ovarian (CHO)-K1 cells under serum-free conditions. Purification by anti-human κ and anti–His-tag affinity, as well as size exclusion chromatography, resulted in a homogenous preparation of highly pure IgA dimers. Functional studies demonstrated dimeric IgA to be at least as effective as monomeric IgA in triggering Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity by isolated monocytes or polymorphonuclear cell and in human whole-blood assays. Importantly, dimeric IgA was more effective in F(ab)-mediated killing mechanisms, such as inhibition of ligand binding, receptor downmodulation, and growth inhibition. Furthermore, only dimeric but not monomeric IgA or IgG was directionally transported by the polymeric Ig receptor through an epithelial cell monolayer. Together, these studies demonstrate that recombinant dimeric IgA Abs recruit a distinct repertoire of effector functions compared with monomeric IgA or IgG1 Abs.
Treat How I treat central venous access device – related upper extremity deep vein thrombosis

Central venous access device (CVAD)related thrombosis (CRT) is a common complication among patients requiring central venous access as part of their medical care. Complications of CRT include pulmonary embolism, recurrent deep venous thrombosis, loss of central venous access, and postthrombotic syndrome. Patient-, device-, and treatmentrelated factors can influence the risk of CRT. Despite numerous randomized controlled trials, the clinical benefit of pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis for the prevention of CRT remains to be established. Therefore, minimizing patient exposure to known risk factors is the best available approach to prevent CRT. Venous duplex is recommended for the diagnosis of CRT. Anticoagulation for at least 3 months or the duration of the indwelling CVAD is recommended for treatment of CRT. Thrombolysis should be considered for patients at low risk for bleeding who have limb-threatening thrombosis or whose symptoms fail to resolve with adequate anticoagulation. CVAD removal should be consider for patients with bacteremia, persistent symptoms despite anticoagulation, and if the CVAD is no longer needed. Superior vena cava filters should be avoided. Prospective studies are needed to define the optimal management of patients with or at risk for CRT. (Blood. 2017;129(20):2727-2736)
Essays on Mispricing in the Chinese Stock Market

This study investigates the impact of exchange risk on the B-share discount by developing an estimation model to decompose the valuation differential into two components: the difference between the expectation of the future exchange rate and the spot exchange rate, and the difference between the expected returns of Aand B-shares, which both contain the exchange risk. The empirical tests show that USD and HKD real exchange rates matter to the B-share markets in the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange at the market level. However, the CNY real exchange rate does not affect the expected returns of A-shares on either stock exchange. In addition, at the industry level, the exposures to USD and HKD exchange risks become less obvious. Although it is difficult to detect a clear pattern in the impacts of real exchange rates on B-share discounts through Aand B-share expected returns, it is quite easy to see how changes to the CNY/USD and CNY/HKD exchange rates affect B-share discounts. Based on this study, if investors expect a strong CNY in future, then B-share discounts will decrease. JEL classification: C32, D43, E44, E65
Polymerized-type I collagen for the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Effect of intramuscular administration in a double blind placebo-controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy, tolerance and safety of intramuscular injections of porcine type I collagen-PVP in patients with RA in a long term-therapy. METHODS The study was a double blind placebo-controlled and included 30 patients with active RA (ACR). Patients were treated with intramuscular injections of 2 ml of collagen-PVP (3.4 mg of collagen) or 2 ml of placebo during 6 months. The follow up was done during the next 6 months. The primary endpoints included the Ritchie index (RI), swollen joint count, disease activity score (DAS), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP). The secondary endpoints included morning stiffness, pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (VAS), and Spanish-health assessment questionnaire (HAQ-DI). Improvement was determined using American College of Rheumatology response criteria (ACR20, 50 and 70). RESULTS Collagen-PVP was safe and well tolerated. There were no adverse events. Patients had a statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05) in collagen-PVP-treated vs. placebo at 6 months of treatment in: swollen joint count (7.1 +/- 0.8 vs. 16.0 +/- 1.6), RI (8.1 +/- 0.8 vs. 15.2 +/- 1.5), morning stiffness (9.2 +/- 3.1 vs. 29.1 +/- 5.9 min), HAQ-DI (50.0 +/- 10.8 vs. 22.9 +/- 10.3), DAS (3.0 +/- 0.2 vs. 4.9 +/- 0.3), ACR20 (78.6 vs. 71.4%), ACR50 (57.1 vs. 0%) and ACR70 (7.1 vs. 0%) and CRP (1.1 +/- 0.4 vs. 2.5 +/- 0.7). Patients treated with collagen-PVP required lower doses of methotrexate vs. placebo (12.6 +/- 0.6 vs. 14.2 +/- 0.7 at 6 months and 12.3 +/- 0.8 vs. 15.4 +/- 0.6 at 12 months; p < 0.05). Serological or haematological parameters remained unchanged. CONCLUSION Collagen-PVP has been shown to be a safe and well-tolerated drug for the long-term treatment of RA. Combination of collagen-PVP plus methotrexate was more efficacious than methotrexate alone. This biodrug can be useful in the treatment of RA.
Strategic online customer decision making: leveraging the transformational power of the Internet

Online shopping phenomena are governed by a number of consumer acceptance and behaviour characteristics and grounded in theoretical aspects of consumer decision making. There are a number of factors that affect what we buy, when we buy, and why we buy. In reference to buying online, the factors that influence consumers are marketing efforts, socio‐cultural influences, psychological factors, personal questions, post‐decision behaviour, and experience. These factors will be further discussed by way of a consumer decision‐making model for online shoppers.
RELATION BETWEEN RISK AND RETURN IN TUNISIAN’S STOCK MARKET AFTER THE REVOLUTION (DURING POLITICAL INSTABILITY)

This paper examines the conditional relationship between the Tunisian stock market performance and the various sources of risk (market risk, the risk of oil prices, exchange rate risk, skewness and kurtosis) after the revolution (2011-2014). The methodology used in this paper is a multi-factor model to analyze the risk-return relationship for most equity sectors. We find a positive risk-return relationship statistically significant at a 1% in the up and down market. The oil price is found to be negative and statistically insignificant in the up and down oil market, suggesting that the oil price is indeed an important factor in determining stock returns. Results for other risk factors like skewness and kurtosis are also presented. These results are useful for individual and institutional investors, managers and policy makers.Keywords: Risk; return; multifactor conditional model; Tunisian Stock Market; instability political.
The Speed of Adjustment to the Target Market Value Leverage Is Slower Than You Think

In the capital structure literature, speed of adjustment (SOA) estimates are similar whether book or market leverage is used. This robustness is suspect, given the survey evidence that firms target their book leverage and the empirical evidence that they don’t issue securities to offset market leverage changes caused by stock price changes. We show that existing market SOA estimates are substantially upward biased due to the passive influence of stock price fluctuations. Controlling for this bias, the SOA estimate is 16% for book leverage and 10% for market leverage, implying that the trade-off theory is less important than previously thought.
[MR thermometry for laser-induced thermotherapy at 1.5 Tesla].

PURPOSE Evaluation of thermometry with fast MR sequences for laser-induced interstitial laser therapy (LITT) and verification of the thermometric results with a fiber-optic thermometer. METHOD AND MATERIALS In vitro experiments were conducted using an agarose gel mixture and pig liver lobes. MR-guided LITT was performed using a laser power between 3 and 15 watts. Thermometry was performed using longitudinal relaxation time T1 and proton resonance frequency shift (PRF) methods under acquisition of amplitude and phase shift images. PRF was measured with a fast spoiled GRE sequence. Four different sequences were used for T1 thermometry: gradient echo (GE), TrueFISP (TRUFI), Saturation Recovery Turbo-FLASH (SRTF) and Inversion Recovery Turbo-FLASH (IRTF) sequences. The temperature was controlled using a fiber-optic Luxtron device and correlated with the MR temperature. The range of applied and monitored temperatures exceeded 80 degrees Celsius. RESULTS The temperature dependence showed a good linear relationship up to 60 degrees Celsius. Calibration experiments for the T1 method delivered coefficients of determination from 0.977 to 0.997 for agarose and from 0.958 to 0.995 for the pig liver samples. The IRTF sequence had the highest temperature sensitivity (agarose 0.99, liver 1.19). During LITT the TRUE-FISP sequence exhibited a strong nonlinear relationship. R (2) of this sequence was 0.809 in the agarose experiments. The average temperature errors when heated up to 80 degrees Celsius were 3.86-11.38 degrees Celsius for Agarose gel and 5.7-12.16 degrees Celsius for the liver tissue. SRTF and IRTF sequences exhibited the most linear relationship with temperature but were more dependent on tissue differences. CONCLUSION The accuracy of the temperature measurement is sufficient for controlling the coagulation area of the LITT. PRF is the method of choice since it shows the best linear correlation with fiber-optic temperature. If only T1 sequences are concerned, the FLASH sequence is preferred. It is the most robust, though not the most accurate, T1 sequence.
Early Prediction of Acute Kidney Injury by Clinical and Biochemical Parameters in Snakebite Patients

1 Associate Professor, 2 Junior Resident Department of General Medicine, Government Medical College, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India440001 Corresponding Author Dr Vinay S. Panchalwar Associate Professor, Department of General Medicine, Government Medical College, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India-440001 Email: vriankalwar@yahoo.com Abstract Aims and Objectives: The present study was undertaken to determine early clinical and biochemical predictors for Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) among snake bite patients at the time of hospital admission and to determine incidence of AKI in snake bite patients. Methods: We analyzed 200 cases with a poisonous snake bite. Patients were classified into two groups according to the presence and absence of AKI (AKI and No-AKI). History, findings of clinical examination and investigations of all patients were recorded and results were statistically compared. Results: Out of 200 patients of snake bite, 63 developed AKI (31.5%). Among the clinical features, there was an independent positive association of AKI with bleeding tendencies, hypotension, wound complications and prolonged bite-to-initial Anti-Snake Venom (ASV) administration time. Similarly, among biochemical parameters, strong association of AKI was observed with hemoglobinuria, albuminuria, Red Blood Cells (RBC) in urine, elevated International Normalized Ratio (INR), elevated indirect bilirubin, decreased platelets and prolonged 20 min Whole Blood Clotting Time (WBCT) test. Conclusions: Clinical manifestations (bleeding manifestations, hypotension, tenderness, progressive swelling and wound complications) and biochemical parameters (hemoglobinuria, albuminuria, RBC in urine, elevated INR, elevated indirect bilirubin, decreased platelets and prolonged 20min WBCT test) can be considered as early predictors of AKI among snake bite patients including delayed presentation to hospital resulting in prolonged bite-to-initial ASV administration time.
Salivary concentrations of steroid hormones in males and in cycling and postmenopausal females with and without periodontitis.

Concentrations of testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, eslradiol, progesterone, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, and cortisol were measured in the saliva by radioimmunoassay. Saliva from male and cycling and postmenopausal female patients with and without periodontitis was studied. It was found that salivary concentration of progesterone was increased in all patients with periodontitis. While testosterone was significantly increased in the female diabetic and non-diabetic patients with periodontitis, no difference in its concentration was found in the saliva of non-diabetic males with and without periodontitis. Salivary dehydroepiandrosterone was also increased in postmenopausal females with periodontitis. In contrast, estradiol was significantly decreased or not measurable in all patient groups with periodontitis. The concentration of cortisol and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone showed no significant differences in postmenopausal patients with and without periodontitis. In addition, the salivary concentration of all hormones in postmenopausal females showed circadian variation. Moreover, results obtained in postmenopausal and ovariectomized females provided evidence for extragonadal production of sex steroid hormones in postmenopausal females. The present results suggest that there is a relationship between the altered production of sex steroid hormones and the incidence of periodontal pathology.
Reflux Masquerader: Acute Helicobacter pylori Infection in Neonates and Infants

Helicobacter pylori infection causes gastritis and duodenal ulcers, and—to a lesser extent—gastric ulcers, and it is strongly associated with adenocarcinoma and mucosal-associated lymphomas in humans (1). Whereas seroepidemiological studies have identified childhood as an important period for acquisition of the infection, it is believed that persistent colonization, particularly that which results in overt clinical disease, is rare in the first year of life (2,3). We report 2 cases of symptomatic H pylori infection diagnosed by histology in 6-week-old and 4-month-old infants in the United States. As far as we are aware, these are the first reports of cases in such young infants.
Explicit and Implicit Incentives: Longitudinal Evidence from NCAA Football Head Coaches Employment Contracts

We study the role of explicit and implicit incentives in a competitive labor market with no internal promotion opportunities. We find that explicit incentives explain only a small fraction of the total incentives, as the likelihood of new employment and renegotiation of current employment on better terms increases following good performance. We also find the likelihood of renegotiation relative to changing employment on better terms is dependent on the labor market forces. Our findings demonstrate the role of renegotiation and the relative strength of labor market forces compared to ex-ante pay-for-performance in the presence of strong external labor market incentives. Further, our results suggest that conclusions regarding the optimal use of explicit incentives in pay-for-performance may be substantially overstated when not considering implicit incentives from the labor market.