Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distress Tolerance as a Predictor of Risky and Aggressive Driving

Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship between distress tolerance and risky and aggressive driving. Distress tolerance, defined as an individual's capability to experience and endure negative emotional states, was hypothesized to be related negatively to aggressive driving and risky driving. Methods: An anonymous, web-based survey of 769 college students was conducted at a large East Coast university. Results: After controlling for age, gender, race, ethnicity, year in school, grade point average, and driving frequency, distress tolerance was significantly inversely related to reported risky driving and aggressive driving. Conclusion: College drivers who have a diminished capacity to endure frustration without experiencing negative emotional states (i.e., low distress tolerance) tend to drive aggressively and in a risky manner. Traditional deterrence-based approaches to highway safety may benefit from inclusion of a wider array of prevention strategies that focus on emotion regulation while driving.
Inherited colorectal polyposis and cancer risk of the APC I1307K polymorphism.

Germ-line and somatic truncating mutations of the APC gene are thought to initiate colorectal tumor formation in familial adenomatous polyposis syndrome and sporadic colorectal carcinogenesis, respectively. Recently, an isoleucine-->lysine polymorphism at codon 1307 (I1307K) of the APC gene has been identified in 6%-7% of the Ashkenazi Jewish population. To assess the risk of this common APC allelic variant in colorectal carcinogenesis, we have analyzed a large cohort of unselected Ashkenazi Jewish subjects with adenomatous polyps and.or colorectal cancer, for the APC I1307K polymorphism. The APC I1307K allele was identified in 48 (10.1%) of 476 patients. Compared with the frequency in two separate population control groups, the APC I1307K allele is associated with an estimated relative risk of 1.5-1.7 for colorectal neoplasia (both P=.01). Furthermore, compared with noncarriers, APC I1307K carriers had increased numbers of adenomas and colorectal cancers per patient (P=.03), as well as a younger age at diagnosis. We conclude that the APC I1307K variant leads to increased adenoma formation and directly contributes to 3%-4% of all Ashkenazi Jewish colorectal cancer. The estimated relative risk for carriers may justify specific clinical screening for the 360,000 Americans expected to harbor this allele, and genetic testing in the setting of long-term-outcome studies may impact significantly on colorectal cancer prevention in this population.
Correlation of the development of knee pain with enlarging bone marrow lesions on magnetic resonance imaging.

OBJECTIVE Results of cross-sectional studies have suggested that bone marrow lesions (BMLs) visualized on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are related to knee pain, but no longitudinal studies have been done. This study was undertaken to determine whether enlarging BMLs are associated with new knee pain. METHODS Subjects ages 50-79 years with knee osteoarthritis (OA) or at high risk of knee OA were asked twice at baseline about the presence of knee pain, aching, or stiffness (classified as frequent knee pain) on most days; absence of knee pain was the baseline eligibility criterion. At 15 months' followup, subjects were again queried twice about frequent knee pain. A case knee was defined as absence of knee pain at baseline but presence of knee pain both times at followup. Controls were selected randomly from among knees with absence of pain at baseline. All MR images were scored for volume of BMLs in the medial, lateral, and patellofemoral compartments. We focused on the maximal change in BML score among the knee compartments from baseline to 15 months. Multiple logistic regression, with adjustments for demographic and clinical variables, was used to assess whether an increased BML score is predictive of the development of knee pain. RESULTS Among case knees, 54 of 110 (49.1%) showed an increase in BML score within a compartment, whereas only 59 of 220 control knees (26.8%) showed an increase (P < 0.001 by chi-square test). A BML score increase of at least 2 units was much more common in case knees than in control knees (27.5% versus 8.6%; adjusted odds ratio 3.2, 95% confidence interval 1.5-6.8). Among case knees with increased BMLs, most already had BMLs at baseline, with enlarging BMLs at followup, but among the subset of knees with no BMLs at baseline, new BMLs were more common in case knees (11 [32.4%] of 34) than in control knees (9 [10.8%] of 83). CONCLUSION Development of knee pain is associated with an increase in BMLs as revealed on MRI.
Prostatic Foamy Gland Carcinoma With Aggressive Behavior: Clinicopathologic, Immunohistochemical, and Ultrastructural Analysis

Foamy gland carcinoma is a recently described histologic variant of prostatic adenocarcinoma characterized by abundant foamy cytoplasm and minimal cytologic atypia. The biologic behavior and biochemical nature of the foamy adenocarcinoma cells are unknown. Six cases of prostatic adenocarcinoma with marked foamy appearance were identified from radical prostatectomies. Clinicopathologic, histochemical, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural analyses were conducted. The patients ranged in age from 50 to 73 years (mean age, 65 years) with preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen levels ranging from 2.7 to 37.5 ng/mL (mean, 15.2 ng/mL). All six cases were bilateral high-volume tumors. Five of six patients had high-grade tumors with extraprostatic extension. The foamy tumor cells were negative for mucin and lipid stains, but were positive for colloidal iron and Alcian blue stain. Ultrastructurally, the foamy cells displayed numerous intracytoplasmic vesicles and numerous polyribosomes. The authors conclude that the foamy appearance of these tumor cells is the result of the presence of numerous intracytoplasmic vesicles, and not the result of the presence of lipid or neutral mucin. This study illustrates that foamy gland carcinoma is a distinctive histologic variant of prostatic adenocarcinoma and is often associated with an aggressive behavior despite its deceivingly benign histologic appearance.
Contribution of measles virus fusion protein in protective immunity: anti-F monoclonal antibodies neutralize virus infectivity and protect mice against challenge

To study the contribution of the measles virus fusion (F) protein in the immune response, anti-F monoclonal antibodies were prepared by using a vaccinia-measles virus F recombinant. In contrast to previously described anti-F monoclonal antibodies, these antibodies not only neutralized virus infectivity and inhibited fusion but also passively protected mice. Since these monoclonal antibodies recognize a configurational epitope, presentation of the antigen during infection may play an important role in the immune response. These factors are discussed in relation to vaccination.
Education, Mental Health, and Education-Labor Market Misfit

Higher-educated people experience enhanced mental health. We ponder whether the mental health benefits of educational attainment are limitless. At the individual level, we look at the impact of job-education mismatch. At the societal level, we hypothesize that diminishing economic returns on education limit its mental health benefits. Using a subsample of individuals aged 20 to 65 years (N = 28,288) from 21 countries in the European Social Survey (ESS 2006), we estimate the impact on depressive symptoms of characteristics at both the employee level (years of education and job-education mismatch) and the labor market/country level (the gap between the nontertiary and tertiary educated in terms of unemployment risks and earnings). The results show that educational attainment produces mental health benefits in most European countries. However, in some of the countries, these benefits are limited or even completely eliminated by education-labor market misfit.
How Obesity Causes Diabetes: Not a Tall Tale

The epidemic of obesity-associated diabetes is a major crisis in modern societies, in which food is plentiful and exercise is optional. The biological basis of this problem has been explored from evolutionary and mechanistic perspectives. Evolutionary theories, focusing on the potential survival advantages of “thrifty” genes that are now maladaptive, are of great interest but are inherently speculative and difficult to prove. Mechanistic studies have revealed numerous fat-derived molecules and a link to inflammation that, together, are hypothesized to underlie the obesity-diabetes connection and thereby represent prospective targets for therapeutic intervention.
Ten years to prevent catastrophe ?

The science of climate change is full of uncertainty, but the greater vulnerability of poor countries to the impacts of climate change is one aspect that is widely acknowledged. This paper adapts Dryzek’s ‘components’ approach to discourse analysis to explore the media construction of climate change and development in UK ‘quality’ newspapers between 1997 and 2007. Eight discourses are identified from more than 150 articles, based on the entities recognised, assumptions about natural relationships, agents and their motives, rhetorical devices and normative judgements. They show a wide range of opinions regarding the impacts of climate change on development and the appropriate action to be taken. Discourses concerned with likely severe impacts have dominated coverage in the Guardian and the Independent since 1997, and in all four papers since 2006. Previously discourses proposing that climate change was a low development priority had formed the coverage in the Times and the Telegraph. The classification of different discourses allows an inductive, nuanced analysis of the factors influencing representation of climate change and development issues; an analysis which highlights the role of key events, individual actors, newspaper ideology and wider social and political factors. Overall the findings demonstrate media perceptions of a rising sense of an impending catastrophe for the developing world that is defenceless without the help of the West, perpetuating to an extent views of the poor as victims. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The mechanisms and physiological relevance of glycocalyx degradation in hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury.

SIGNIFICANCE Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is an inevitable side effect of major liver surgery that can culminate in liver failure. The bulk of I/R-induced liver injury results from an overproduction of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), which inflict both parenchymal and microcirculatory damage. A structure that is particularly prone to oxidative attack and modification is the glycocalyx (GCX), a meshwork of proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) that covers the lumenal endothelial surface and safeguards microvascular homeostasis. ROS/RNS-mediated degradation of the GCX may exacerbate I/R injury by, for example, inducing vasoconstriction, facilitating leukocyte adherence, and directly activating innate immune cells. RECENT ADVANCES Preliminary experiments revealed that hepatic sinusoids contain a functional GCX that is damaged during murine hepatic I/R and major liver surgery in patients. There are three ROS that mediate GCX degradation: hydroxyl radicals, carbonate radical anions, and hypochlorous acid (HOCl). HOCl converts GAGs in the GCX to GAG chloramides that become site-specific targets for oxidizing and reducing species and are more efficiently fragmented than the parent molecules. In addition to ROS/RNS, the GAG-degrading enzyme heparanase acts at the endothelial surface to shed the GCX. CRITICAL ISSUES The GCX seems to be degraded during major liver surgery, but the underlying cause remains ill-defined. FUTURE DIRECTIONS The relative contribution of the different ROS and RNS intermediates to GCX degradation in vivo, the immunogenic potential of the shed GCX fragments, and the role of heparanase in liver I/R injury all warrant further investigation.
A switched system modeling approach for a Pneumatic Muscle Actuator

The aim of this article is to present a switched system approach for the dynamic modeling of Pneumatic Muscle Actuators (PMAs). PMAs are highly non-linear pneumatic actuators where their elongation is proportional to the interval pressure. During the last two decades, various modeling approaches have been presented that describe the behavior of PMAs. While most mathematical models are characterized by simplicity and accuracy in describing the attributes of PMAs, they are limited to static performance analysis. Static models are proven to be insufficient for real time control applications, thus creating the need for the development of dynamic PMA models. A collection of experimental and simulation results are being presented that prove the efficiency of the proposed approach.
Is colonoscopy necessary in children suspected of having colonic polyps?

BACKGROUND/AIMS The clinical spectrum, histology, and endoscopic features of colonic polyps in the pediatric age group were studied to evaluate the role of colonoscopy in children suspected of having colonic polyps. METHODS Seventy-six patients with colorectal polyps were studied. Investigations included barium enema (n=6), sigmoidoscopy (n=17), and colonoscopy (n=53) at the initial visit. Colonoscopy was also performed in 23 patients who received barium enema or sigmoidoscopy. Data related to age, gender, family history, signs, symptoms, size, location, polyp types, and associated diseases were collected and analyzed. RESULTS Among the 76 patients, juvenile polyps were detected in 58 (76.3%), potentially premalignant polyposis in 17 (22.4%), familial adenomatous polyposis in 11 (14.5%), Peutz-Jegher syndrome in 4 (5.3%), and juvenile polyposis syndrome in 2 (2.6%). Twenty-two patients (28.9%) had polyps in the upper colon. All patients with potentially malignant polyps had polyps in both the upper colon and rectosigmoid colon. CONCLUSIONS Although most of the children with colorectal polyps had juvenile polyps, a significant number of cases showed multiple premalignant and proximally located polyps. This finding emphasizes the need for a colonoscopy in such patients. Thus, the risk of malignant change, particularly in children with multiple polyps, makes surveillance colonoscopy necessary.
An investigation of hybrid systems for reasoning in noisy domains

This thesis discusses aspects of design, implementation and theory of expert systems, which have been constructed in a novel way using techniques derived from several existing areas of Arti cial Intelligence research. In particular, it examines the philosophical and technical aspects of combining techniques derived from the traditional rule-based methods for knowledge representation, with others taken from connectionist (more commonly described as Arti cial Neural Network) approaches, into one homogenous architecture. Several issues of viability have been addressed, in particular why an increase in system complexity should be warranted. The kinds of gain that can be achieved by such hybrid systems in terms of their applicability to general problem solving and ability to continue working in the presence of noise, are discussed. The rst aim of this work has been to assess the potential bene ts of building systems from modular components, each of which is constructed using di erent internal architectures. The objective has been to progress the state of knowledge of the operational capabilities of a speci c system. A hybrid architecture containing multiple neural nets and a rule-based system has been designed, implemented and analysed. In the course of, and as an aid to the development of the system, an extensive simulation work-bench has been constructed. The overall system, despite its increased internal complexity provides many bene ts including ease of construction and improved noise tolerance, combined with explanation facilities. In terms of undesirable features inherited from the parent techniques the losses are low. The project has proved successful in its stated aims and has succeeded in iii ABSTRACT iv contributing a working hybrid systemmodel and experimental results derived from the comparison of this new approach with the two, primary, existing techniques.iv contributing a working hybrid systemmodel and experimental results derived from the comparison of this new approach with the two, primary, existing techniques.
Chemical Composition and in vitro Schistosomicidal Activity of the Essential Oil of Plectranthus neochilus Grown in Southeast Brazil

The chemical composition and the in vitro schistosomicidal effects of the essential oil of Plectranthus neochilus (PN‐EO) grown in Southeast Brazil was studied. β‐Caryophyllene (1; 28.23%), α‐thujene (2; 12.22%), α‐pinene (3; 12.63%), β‐pinene (4; 6.19%), germacrene D (5; 5.36%), and caryophyllene oxide (6; 5.37%) were the major essential oil constituents. This chemical composition differed from that previously reported for specimens harvested in Africa. Concerning the in vitro schistosomicidal activity against adult Schistosoma mansoni worms, PN‐EO was considered to be active, but less effective than the positive control praziquantel (PZQ) in terms of separation of coupled pairs, mortality, decrease in the motor activity, and tegumental alterations. However, PN‐EO caused an interesting dose‐dependent reduction in the number and the percentage of developed S. mansoni eggs. These results suggest that PN‐EO might be very promising for the development of new schistosomicidal agents.
A direct method and ICER tables for the estimation of the cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions in general populations: application to a new cytisine trial and other examples.

INTRODUCTION The popularity of smoking cost-effectiveness (CE) analysis has grown rapidly. Differences in models and inputs mean results may not be comparable, and researchers may have to take them on trust because the methods are beyond their expertise and not always transparent. We describe a direct method and tables of results for researchers without specialist knowledge. METHODS We estimate the health benefit to an individual attributed to an intervention and compute tables of incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for interventions with varying incremental intervention effects and costs. Estimates of life years gained come from the longest epidemiological study. After discounting, adjustments are made for future cessation and relapse. The method is described in simple steps, and conservative inputs are used throughout. RESULTS To look up an ICER, the user needs only to know the cost of the intervention per smoker and the effect as measured by the percentage of ex-smokers attributable to the intervention at either 6- or 12-month follow-up. Reanalysis of authoritative reports indicates that these ICERs are comparable to those from decision-analytic simulation models. CONCLUSIONS Researchers can now obtain immediate estimates of the CE of interventions in general populations. The method is easily programmed in a spreadsheet. ICERs are from the payer perspective and exclude offset and societal costs. Interventions in subpopulations will require inputs specific to those populations. Readers who wish to include an adjustment for quality of life can easily do so. The tables might promote a standard approach, with interventions compared on a consistent and transparent basis.
Transcervical cells and the prenatal diagnosis of haemoglobin (Hb) mutations

Prenatal diagnoses of haemoglobin (Hb) mutations were performed using transcervical cells, retrieved by aspiration from the endocervical canal of ten selected pregnant women at about 10 weeks of gestation, prior to chorionic villus sampling (CVS). Both parents were carriers of haemoglobinopaties (thalassaemia or HbS). Clumps of fetal cells were isolated by micromanipulation under an inverted microscope and aliquots of the extracted DNA tested separately for the presence of paternally derived chromosome markers and Hb mutations by quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The correct prenatal diagnosis of Hb diseases, using selected single clumps of trophoblastic cellular elements free of maternal contaminating cells, was achieved in six out of ten cases.
Psychosocial Functioning in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Patients: Influence of Psychosomatic Syndromes, Psychopathology and Somatization

Background:This study investigated whether the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) were able to predict psychosocial functioning in addition to psychiatric diagnoses and somatization in consultation-liaison psychiatry (CLP) patients. Method: A consecutive sample of 208 CLP patients were recruited and assessed for sociodemographic and medical data, psychopathology (SCID), psychosomatic syndromes (DCPR structured interview) and somatization (SCL-90-R SOM scale and multisomatoform disorder, MSD). The main endpoints were the mental and physical components of psychosocial functioning (SF-36). Results: A total of 185 (89%) patients had any psychiatric diagnosis, 51 (25%) had MSD positive criteria, 176 (85%) had any DCPR syndrome, and 105 (51%) had multiple DCPR syndromes. Although psychiatric and psychosomatic syndromes were variously associated with psychosocial functioning, hierarchical regression and effect size analyses showed that only DCPR syndromes, particularly demoralization and health anxiety, with somatization but not DSM-IV psychopathology independently predicted poor psychosocial functioning. Conclusions:The presence of psychosomatic syndromes, assessed with DCPR criteria, and high levels of somatization had larger effect size and were independent predictors of the mental and physical components of psychosocial dysfunction, over and above psychopathology. The DCPR classification can provide CLP professionals with a set of sensitive diagnostic criteria for a comprehensive clinical evaluation of psychosomatic syndromes that might play a significant mediating role in the course and the outcome of medical patients referred for psychiatric consultation.
Association of OPRK1 gene polymorphisms with opioid dependence in addicted men undergoing methadone treatment in an Iranian population

ABSTRACT Previous studies have shown significant associations between OPRK1 and susceptibility to opioid dependence and the relationships between libido dysfunction and insomnia among opium addicts who underwent methadone maintenance treatment. The authors investigated the single locus and haplotype association of rs997917, rs6985606, and rs6473797 with susceptibility to opioid addiction. Samples were selected among 202 healthy individuals and 202 opium addicts undergoing methadone maintenance treatment. Genomic DNA was extracted from the whole blood samples of all subjects through a salting out procedure. All three variants were genotyped in the studied subjects using Amplification Refractory Mutation System-Polymerase Chain Reaction (ARMS-PCR). The whole analysis process was performed using SNPAlyze and SPSS ver.20 software packages. According to the single locus analyses, rs997917 and rs6985606 represented significant associations with opium addiction under recessive (p = 0.0128) and co-dominant (p = 0.0001) inheritance models, respectively. The haplotypes C-T-C (Permutation p = 0.014) and C-T-T (Permutation p = 0.0002) were significantly associated with opioid dependence. Among methadone maintenance treatment individuals, rs997917 was significantly associated with insomnia in both allelic and genotypic levels (p = 0.0001 and p = 0.038, respectively). Furthermore, rs6985606 had the only significant association with the co-incidence of insomnia and libido dysfunction in the methadone maintenance treatment group (p = 0.038). The OPRK1 gene variants showed significant association with susceptibility to opioid dependence among Iranians.