Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examination of Sex and Race Differences in Longitudinal Predictors of the Initiation of Adolescent Dating Violence Perpetration

We examined longitudinal predictors of dating violence perpetration and determined if predictors varied by sex and race. Analyses were with 1,666 adolescents who completed questionnaires in a fall and spring semester. Depression, marijuana use, and aggression against peers predicted perpetration by girls but not by boys. Anxiety predicted perpetration by White adolescents and anger predicted perpetration by Black adolescents. Number of friends using dating violence was a predictor for all groups. Black girls were more likely to initiate dating violence than all other groups. The findings can inform the development of programs for the primary prevention of adolescent dating violence.
Aberrant Fas Ligand Expression in Lymphocytes in Patients with Behçet’s Disease

Background: Defects in immune responses have been reported in patients with Behçet’s disease (BD). To further characterize the immune dysfunction and its contribution to the pathogenesis, we have studied Fas ligand (FasL) expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and mononuclear cells in the skin lesions in patients with BD. Methods: FasL expression in PBL was studied with RT-PCR and immunoblotting with rabbit anti-human FasL antibody. We studied the expression of FasL in cryostat sections of biopsy specimens of erythema nodosum lesions from 4 patients with BD and of a genital ulcer lesion in another patient using immunohistochemical staining. Apoptotic cell death was detected with the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) method. Results: We found that FasL mRNA and FasL protein expression was detected marginally in the unstimulated PBL, and was induced upon activation in normal individuals. PBL from patients with BD exhibited an enhanced expression of FasL mRNA and FasL protein without in vitro stimulation. Moreover, mitogen stimulation failed to augment FasL expression of their lymphocytes, suggesting a dysregulation of FasL expression of PBL in patients with BD. The skin biopsy specimens revealed that cells infiltrating into skin lesions expressed FasL and there were several TUNEL staining-positive cells in the lesions, suggesting that Fas/FasL-mediated apoptosis is involved in the development of the skin lesion and thus may be associated with the pathogenesis. Conclusions: We found an excessive expression of FasL in circulating as well as skin-infiltrating lymphocytes and the presence of apoptotic cells in the skin lesions, suggesting that lymphocytes expressing FasL aberrantly may play a role in the development and pathogenesis of BD.
Obestatin and Copeptin Levels in Egyptian Polycystic Ovary Patients and their Relation to Obesity , Insulin Resistance and Cardiovascular Risk

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy (Girls), Al-Azhar University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine (Boys), Al-Azhar University Department of Clinical pathology, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine (Boys), Al-Azhar University. *Correspondence Author’s E-mail: mm.kamel@yahoo.com Telephone: +201018470990 The aim of this study is to investigate the correlations between the serum levels of obestatin and copeptin, carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT), and brachial artery flow mediated dilatation (FMD) in obese and nonobese women with PCOS. Secondly to investigate their relationship with each other and with clinical, metabolic, hormonal parameters and cardiovascular risk factors. We analyzed 54 patients with PCOS and 20 age-matched healthy women as controls. PCOS patients were divided into two groups based on body mass index (BMI): obese group (BMI > 30 kg/m, n = 28) and non-obese group (BMI < 30 kg/m, n = 26). Serum copeptin and obestatin levels, insulin homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), CIMT and brachial artery FMD were determined and compared among the groups. Women with PCOS, especially obese ones, had higher triglycerides, HOMAIR, hirsutism score, total testosterone, CRP, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and lower HDL. Serum obestatin levels were significantly lower in obese PCOS group than non-obese and control. While Serum copeptin levels were significantly higher in obese PCOS group than non-obese and control. Brachial artery FMD was lower in the PCOS groups than control. Obestatin was positively correlated with cardiovascular risk factor (FMD), whereas copeptin was negatively correlated with FMD. Obestatin and copeptin may provide useful information regarding future cardiovascular risk in PCOS patients as obestatin was negatively correlated and copeptin was positively correlated with cardiovascular risk factor (FMD).
Immunohistochemical localization of prion protein in spongiform encephalopathies and normal brain tissue

We used polyclonal antibodies raised against hamster and mouse PrP27–30 as immunologic probes to study the localization of intracellular and extracellular deposits of prion protein in normal and scrapie-infected mouse and hamster brains and in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)-infected mouse brains. In addition, we examined normal human brain and brain tissues from patients with CJD, kuru, Alzheimer's disease, and idiopathic chronic encephalitis. There was positive staining in the cytoplasm of neurons of normal and scrapie- and CJD-infected mice, and in the neurons of normal and scrapie-infected hamsters. The staining pattern suggests the localization of PrP in an intracellular membrane compartment, most likely the rough endoplasmic reticulum or Golgi apparatus. Antibodies raised against a 15-amino-acid synthetic peptide of the N-terminal of hamster PrP27–30 displayed a similar pattern of staining in mouse brain sections. We observed no intracellular staining in human brain sections obtained at autopsy. Antibodies prepared against mouse and hamster PrP27–30 reacted with amyloid plaques in scrapie-infected mouse and kuru- and CJD-infected human brain sections but not with amyloid plaques in the brain of a patient with Alzheimer's disease.
Heterogeneity in Depression Symptoms and Health Status Among Older Adults

Objectives: We assessed whether distinct classes of depression symptoms could be identified. In addition, we determined how these classes differed in terms of health status. Methods: Data were analyzed with latent profile analysis. MANOVA tests were used to compare the health status of the various classes. Results: A four-class model had the best fit. Classes were labeled according to participants’ responses to the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale (CES-D) items and their overall score: low depression symptoms, high depression symptoms, subthreshold with anhedonia, and subthreshold with anhedonia and negative interpersonal feelings. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses showed that health status differed across classes. Conclusions: The results provide support for the idea that there is heterogeneity in the presentation of depression symptoms among older adults. These data showed that about a third of our sample of older adults reported increased levels of anhedonia and that negative interpersonal feelings were uncommon.
Quaternionic Dirac equation.

The quaternionic generalization of the Dirac equation is investigated. From elementary considerations of unitarity and Lorentz invariance it is demonstrated that potentials with quaternionic parts are not consistent with representation independence. This result leads to the conclusion that either quaternionic quantum mechanics singles out a special class of Dirac representations, or that allowed potentials appearing in the problem have no {ital j} or {ital k} components. If the latter alternative is the case, consideration of nonrelativistic wave mechanics casts doubt on the existence of simple experimental tests of quaternionic quantum mechanics.
Influence of whey and probiotic-supplemented withdrawal feed on the retention of Salmonella intubated into market age broilers.

Broilers (6 wk of age) were crop-intubated with a nalidixic acid-resistant strain of Salmonella typhimurium and given four withdrawal feeds: 1) control feed (corn and soybean meal base, 18% CP and 3,200 kcal ME/kg); 2) control plus 5% whey (61% lactose); 3) control plus probiotic (6.8 x 10(6) cfu of Bifidobacterium pseudolongum, Bifidobacterium thermophilium, and Lactobacillus acidophilus); and 4) control plus 5% whey plus probiotic. In Experiment 1, male broilers received 9.8 x 10(7) cfu of S. typhimurium per bird midway through a 20-h fast. The withdrawal feeds were continuously offered through a subsequent period of 6 to 7 days. Live performance of broilers during this time was similar among treatments. Ceca from birds consuming whey were significantly (P less than .05) increased in weight and distended with gas. Recovery of S. typhimurium from the ceca was low with all treatments, and the effects of whey or probiotic at reducing the organism could not be determined. In Experiment 2, female broilers received the same four experimental feeds for 48 h. Salmonella typhimurium was intubated 24 h after feed access (1.2 x 10(7) cfu per bird). Again, no differences (P greater than .05) in performance occurred, but the inclusion of whey led to increased cecal weight and size (P less than .05). Large numbers of S. typhimurium were recovered from the ceca 24 h after intubation, but the levels were similar among treatments. Whey and probiotic in the withdrawal feed did not appear to affect the Salmonella level in ceca when the organism was consumed prior to marketing.
Comparison of Naive Bayes, Random Forest, Decision Tree, Support Vector Machines, and Logistic Regression Classifiers for Text Reviews Classification

Today, a largely scalable computing environment provides a possibility of carrying out various data-intensive natural language processing and machine-learning tasks. One of these is text classification with some issues recently investigated by many data scientists. The authors of this paper investigate Naïve Bayes, Random Forest, Decision Tree, Support Vector Machines, and Logistic Regression classifiers implemented in Apache Spark, i.e. the in-memory intensive computing platform. The focus of the paper is on comparing these classifiers by evaluating the classification accuracy, based on the size of training data sets, and the number of n -grams. In experiments, short texts for product-review data from Amazon 1 were analyzed.
The Benefits and Hazards of Elite High School Admission : Academic Opportunity and Dropout Risk in Mexico City

Mexico City uses a competitive admissions process to allocate students among its public high schools. Among these are school systems with a reputation as elite institutions with perceived quality far surpassing the other systems. This paper exploits the allocation mechanism to estimate the effects of admission to elite schools in comparison to other public schools. Marginal admission to the subset of elite schools examined increases the predicted probability of dropout by 8.5 percentage points. Students with weaker middle school grades and lower parental education experience a much larger increase in dropout probability as a result of admission. On the other hand, marginal admission to an elite school raises end-of-high school test scores by an average of 0.12 standard deviations, without discernible heterogeneity with respect to student characteristics. The increased dropout risk for weaker students and those of lower socioeconomic status, together with the lack of evidence that the academic benefits accrue differentially to these students, offers one explanation for the finding that middle school performance and socioeconomic status positively predict elite school preference even among students with identical entrance exam scores.
Continuous Administration of Daily Low-Dose Temozolomide in Pretreated Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Phase II Study

Purpose: Temozolomide, a novel triazene derivative, has shown activity in vitro against lung cancer as well as against brain metastases from a variety of solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of temozolomide in pretreated patients with NSCLC. Patients and Methods: Thirty-one pretreated patients (median age 60 years) with histologically confirmed NSCLC were enrolled. Sixteen (52%) patients had a performance status (ECOG) of 0–1, 12 (39%) had pretreated brain metastases and 28 (90.3%) had received >2 lines of treatment. Temozolomide was administered at a dose of 75 mg/m2 daily for 21 days every 28 days. A total of 73 chemotherapy cycles were administered. Results: In an intention-to-treat analysis, 2 patients (6.5%; 95% CI: –2.2 to 15.1%) achieved a partial response and 3 (10%) stable disease. The median time to progression was 2.4 months, the median survival time 3.3 months and the 1-year survival rate 22.5%. There was a toxic death due to grade 4 neutropenia. Grade 3 and 4 lymphopenia occurred in 4 (13%) and 2 (6%) patients, respectively. Nonhematological toxicity was mild, consisting of grade 2–3 asthenia (n = 14 patients) and grade 3 diarrhea (n = 1 patient). Conclusion: Prolonged low daily doses of temozolomide demonstrate minimal activity as salvage therapy in patients with advanced NSCLC. The combination of low daily doses of temozolomide with other anticancer drugs probably merits further evaluation.
Impact of Physical Fitness and Glycemic Control on In Vivo Insulin Action in Adolescents With IDDM

The relationship of in vivo insulin-mediated glucose utilization to the state of physical fitness and the degree of glycemic control was examined in 27 adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) compared with 10 nondiabetic adolescent control subjects. In vivo total-body insulin-mediated glucose metabolism was evaluated by the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. Physical fitness was assessed by maximal oxygen consumption (Vo2 max) during cycle ergometry. Patients and control subjects had similar levels of Vo2 max (34.9 ± 8.6 vs. 38.6 ± 9.9 ml · kg−1 · min−1, P = 0.3). Patients had lower total-body insulin-mediated glucose metabolism compared with control subjects (33.9 ± 14.3 vs. 63.8 ± 17.2 μmol · kg−1 · min−1, P = 0.0002). Among the patients, females had lower total-body insulin-mediated glucose metabolism compared with males (24.2 ± 2.8 vs. 40.7 ± 3.4 μmol · kg−1 · min−1, P < 0.001); however, this difference disappeared after correcting for sex differences in fitness levels. Insulin-mediated glucose metabolism correlated with Vo2 max in patients and control subjects (r = 0.83, r = 0.81, P < 0.05). The regression of total-body insulin-mediated glucose metabolism on Vo2 max for patients was −2.84 ± 0.255 Vo2 max and for control subjects was 7.12 ± 0.143 Vo2 max, indicating that for similar degrees of physical fitness patients have lower total body insulin-mediated glucose metabolism levels than control subjects. In patients, total-body insulin-mediated glucose metabolism correlated with the degree of glycemic control as assessed by the level of glycosylated hemoglobin (r = −0.63, P < 0.001). In a multiple regression analysis including Vo2 max and glycosylated hemoglobin, the coefficient of determination explaining the variation in total-body insulin-mediated glucose metabolism was 73%. It is concluded that adolescents with IDDM are insulin resistant compared with healthy control subjects, and this resistance is attributable to the state of diabetes control. However, the level of physical fitness explains a major part of interindividual variation in insulin action in both control subjects and adolescents with IDDM.
Skin delivery aspects of benzoyl peroxide-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles for acne treatment.

BACKGROUND Benzoyl peroxide (BPO) has been a mainstay of topical acne treatment for years. However, is frequently accompanied by cutaneous irritation and erythema. To reduce these side effects many novel drug delivery systems have been developed in the past, of which solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) demonstrate clear dominance. Hence, we developed a facile method to prepare stable SLN of BPO and evaluated their anti-bacterial activity. RESULTS BPO-SLN optimized using 2(3) full factorial design provided high occlusion factor, low permeation rate, increased drug deposition, reduced skin irritation and strong anti-bacterial activity in contrast with marketed product. CONCLUSION Desired goals were achieved by factorial design approach in shortest possible time with minimum number of experiments. The developed BPO-SLN system provided controlled drug release, thereby reducing the well-known side effects.
Production , Manufacturing and Logistics Effects of upstream and downstream mergers on supply chain profitability

This paper studies the implications of upstream and/or downstream horizontal mergers on suppliers, retailers and consumers, in a bilateral oligopolistic system. We especially focus on market power and operational synergy benefits that such mergers engender. Starting with a benchmark pre-merger scenario in which firms compete on prices at each level, we find that the above two consequences individually almost have opposite effects on the merging and non-merging firms’ optimal decisions/profits after a merger. Furthermore, even though the effects of upstream and downstream mergers are different, the vertical supply chain partners will always try to reduce their losses if the market power effect dominates, but will take actions that improve their profits if the synergy effect is stronger. The above results are robust enough to hold even when taking into account intra-brand competition among retailers. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. and Association of European Operational Research Societies (EURO) within the International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS). All rights reserved.
National Stroke Registries: What can we learn from them?

Stroke is a major cause of long-term adult disability, death, and health care costs worldwide. This overwhelming burden on global health necessitates ongoing improvements in stroke management. Considerable progress in stroke care is now evident as a result of better prevention measures and the increasing use of acute stroke units, urgent triage, multimodal CT- or MRI-based brain imaging, and IV and endovascular reperfusion therapy.
High mortality of bloodstream infection outbreak caused by carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa producing SPM-1 in a bone marrow transplant unit.

PURPOSE Carbapenem resistance in P. aeruginosa is increasing worldwide. In Brazil, SPM-1 is the main P. aeruginosa carbapenemase identified. Little is known about the virulence factor in SPM-1 clones.Methodolgy. We describe a carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa bloodstream infection (CRPa-BSI) outbreak in a bone marrow transplant Unit (BMT). Twenty-nine CRPa-BSI cases were compared to 58 controls. Microbiological characteristics of isolates, such as sensitivity, carbapenemase gene PCR for P. aeruginosa, and PFGE are described, as well as the whole-genome sequence (WGS) of three strains.Results/Key findings. The cultures from environmental and healthcare workers were negative. Some isolates harboured KPC and SPM. The WGS showed that the 03 strains belonged to ST277, presented the same mutations in outer membrane protein, efflux pump, and virulence genes such as those involved in adhesion, biofilm, quorum-sensing and the type III secretion system, but differ regarding the carbapenemase profile. A predominant clone-producing SPM harbouring Tn 4371 was identified and showed cross-transmission; no common source was found. Overall mortality rate among cases was 79 %. The first multivariate analysis model showed that neutropenia (P=0.018), GVHD prophylaxis (P=0.016) and prior use of carbapenems (P=0.0089) were associated with CRPa-BSI. However, when MASCC>21 points and platelets were added in the final multivariate analysis, only prior use of carbapenems remained as an independent risk factor for CRPa-BSI (P=0.043). CONCLUSIONS The predominant clone belonging to ST277 showed high mortality. Carbapenem use was the only risk factor associated with CRPa-BSI. This finding is a wake-up call for the need to improve management in BMT units.
Vocal Fold Paralysis following the Anterior Approach to the Cervical Spine

The anterior cervical approach is commonly used for access to the cervical spine. Vocal fold paralysis (VFP), a complication of this approach, is underrepresented in the literature. A review of the database of the Vanderbilt Voice Center revealed 289 patients with VFP, including 16 patients who developed paralysis as a result of an anterior cervical approach. The paralysis was on the right side in all but 1 patient. Compared to patients who developed VFP after thyroidectomy and carotid endarterectomy, patients with VFP after an anterior cervical approach have a higher incidence of aspiration and dysphagia, suggesting the presence of trauma to the superior laryngeal and pharyngeal branches as well as the recurrent branch of the vagus nerve. Two patients had partial return and 1 patient had complete return of vocal fold movement within 10 months. Of the remaining 13 patients, 8 underwent vocal fold medialization with improvement of symptoms. Two patients are 6 and 7 months postinjury and await vocal fold medialization. Two patients are 27 months and 45 months postinjury and are considering vocal fold medialization. The remaining patient was lost to follow-up. An anatomic-geometric analysis of the right and left recurrent laryngeal nerves was performed by using measurements obtained from computed tomography scans of 8 patients with idiopathic unilateral VFP, as well as experience gained through surgical and cadaveric dissections. We conclude 1) the anterior cervical approach may place multiple branches of the vagus nerve at risk; 2) because of anatomic-geometric factors, die right-sided anterior cervical approach may carry a greater risk to the ipsilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve than does the left; and 3) an understanding of the anatomy and geometry presented herein allows relatively safe exposure from either side of the neck.
Making sense of policy for climate technology development and transfer

encompass[ing] the broad set of processes that cover the flows of knowledge, experience, and equipment for mitigating and adapting to climate change among different stakeholders. These include governments, international organizations, private sector entities, financial institutions, NGOs and research and/or education institutions. It comprises the process of learning to understand, utilize, and replicate the technology, including the capacity to choose it, adapt it to local conditions, and integrate it with indigenous technologies. (IPCC, 2000)
Effect of artificial pancreas treatment on peripheral nerve function in diabetes

To determine whether the complete correction of hyperglycemia of diabetes can rapidly improve abnormal peripheral nerve function, eight hyperglycemic insulin-requiring diabetics underwent 3 days of glucose control with an artificial endocrine pancreas, the BIOSTATORB Glucose Controller. Comparison of neurologic assessment before and after BIOSTATOR treatment showed improvement only in ulnar sensory conduction velocity (+ 3.2 21.4 meters per second, p < 0.032) and no significant changes in 24 other nerve conduction measurements, computer-assisted sensory examination, and scored neurologic assessment. Any significant beneficial effect on nerve function resulting from correction of hyperglycemia probably requires more than 3 days to be manifested.