Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depression and Alcohol Use in a National Sample of Hispanic Adolescents

ABSTRACT Background: Underage alcohol use and depression remain public health concerns for Hispanic adolescents nationwide. Objectives: The study purpose was to identify the profiles of depression among Hispanic adolescents who reported experiencing depressive symptoms in their lifetime and classify them into groups based on their symptoms. Based on classifications, we examined the relationship between past year alcohol use and severity of depressive symptoms while controlling for sex and age. Methods: A secondary analysis of the 2013 NSDUH was conducted among Hispanic adolescents from 12 to 17 years of age (n = 585) who reported experiencing depressive symptoms. Latent class analysis was used to identify latent classes of depressive symptoms among Hispanic adolescents. A zero-inflated negative-binomial regression model was used to examine the relationship between alcohol use and depressive symptoms. Results: “High depressive” and “moderate depressive” classes were formed. The items that highly differentiated among the groups were felt worthless nearly every day, others noticed they were restless or lethargic, and had changes in appetite or weight. There was a significant difference (p = 0.03) between the classes based on alcohol use; those in the moderate depressive class were 1.71 times more likely to be identified as not reporting past alcohol use. Results indicated the high depressive class was estimated to have 1.62 more days of past year alcohol use than those in the moderate depressive class for adolescents who used alcohol (p < 0.001). Conclusions/Importance: Study findings can be used to address these significant public health issues impacting Hispanic adolescents. Recommendations are included.
Características biológicas das células-tronco mesenquimais

Celulas-tronco sao celulas indiferenciadas. Como tal, apresentam uma serie de caracteristicas que as tornam candidatas a utilizacao terapeutica. As principais caracteristicas das celulas-tronco sao a capacidade de autorrenovacao e de se diferenciarem em diversos tipos celulares. Desta forma, acredita-se que celulas-tronco presentes nos diferentes tecidos tenham papel regenerativo quando estes sofrem uma lesao ou injuria. Entre os tecidos conhecidos por apresentarem celulas-tronco apos a vida pos-natal, a medula ossea foi a mais estudada, por muitos anos, como fonte tanto de celulas-tronco hematopoeticas quanto de celulas-tronco mesenquimais, tambem denominadas de celulas mesenquimais estromais da medula ossea ou celulas estromais mesenquimais multipotentes. Estas celulas sao um grupo de celulas clonogenicas, presentes no estroma da medula ossea, que, quando submetidas a diferentes estimulos apropriados, sao capazes de se diferenciarem em varias linhagens de celulas, como a osteogenica, a condrogenica e a adipogenica e, possivelmente, em outros tipos celulares nao mesodermicos, como celulas neurais ou hepatocitos. Nesta revisao, as principais caracteristicas das celulas-tronco mesenquimais serao abordadas, incluindo os marcadores moleculares e de membrana, as caracteristicas de divisao e de diferenciacao, a heterogeneidade e as aplicacoes clinicas potenciais.
Young Age Is a Positive Prognostic Factor for Residual Hearing Preservation in Conventional Cochlear Implantation

Objective To investigate the prognostic significance of various factors in hearing preservation after traditional cochlear implantation (CI). Study design Retrospective case review. Setting Academic tertiary referral center. Patients A total of 153 implantations with mean patient age at implantation of 36 years (from 10 mo to 83 yr) and residual hearing at the frequencies 250, 500, and 1,000 Hz on the unaided preoperative pure-tone audiometry were included. Intervention(s) CI with a conventional full-length electrode. Main outcome measure(s) The changes on the residual hearing 3 months after implantation were analyzed regarding patients’ demographic factors, shape of the preoperative threshold curve, type of the electrode carrier, and approach of electrode insertion in the cochlea. Preservation of residual hearing was defined as measurable postoperative threshold at the frequencies 250, 500, and 1,000 Hz. Results Preservation of residual hearing was observed in almost half of the cases (47%). In more than half of these patients (54%), a maximal to complete hearing preservation (0–10 dB loss) was achieved. About one-third of these implantations (29%) showed a moderate preservation of residual hearing (11–20 dB loss). In the remaining 17%, the preservation of hearing was marginal (>21 dB loss). Hearing preservation and its extent were significantly better in children and adolescents compared with those in adults. Conclusion The preservation of residual hearing after conventional CI is possible. Young age seems to have a positive impact on hearing preservation.
Phase transition of a microemulsion upon addition of cyclodextrin – applications in drug delivery

Abstract This study reports on the impact of cyclodextrin addition on the phase behavior of microemulsion systems. Three distinct oil-in-water microemulsions were formulated and subjected to increasing concentrations of various cyclodextrins. The prepared formulations underwent visual, textural and microscopic characterization followed by the evaluation of their in vitro drug release and ex vivo tissue retention behavior. Combining microemulsions with cyclodextrins resulted in either phase separation or transition into a liquid crystalline state depending on the concentration and type of cyclodextrin utilized. Formulations combined with α-cyclodextrin consistently demonstrated transition into a liquid crystalline state as confirmed by polarized light and cryo-scanning electron microscopy. In these cases, cyclodextrin addition was also positively correlated with an increase in formulation hardness, adhesiveness and turbidity. Release and clearance studies revealed that drug diffusion from the microemulsions could be slowed and tissue retention prolonged by increasing the cyclodextrin content. These findings pave the way for the development of novel cyclodextrin-microemulsion-based liquid crystalline formulations in a variety of sustained drug delivery applications.
Decisive Criteria Between Stapedotomy and Cochlear Implantation in Patients with Far Advanced Otosclerosis

Objectives To describe the hearing outcomes in patients with far-advanced otosclerosis and to identify the best initial approach based on preoperative word recognition scores (WRS), pure tone averages (PTA), and radiological classification. Study Design Retrospective case review. Setting Academic neurotology tertiary referral center. Patients All patients (n = 58) with preoperative air conduction PTA less than 85dB (HL), disyllabic WRS less than or equal to 50% at 60 dB (HL) with well-fitted hearing aids, and evidence of otosclerosis on CT scan, treated in our department over the past 20 years. Interventions Stapedotomy, cochlear implantation, or both. Main Outcome Measures Postoperative WRS after a minimum of 12 months’ follow-up, percentage of patients with WRS greater than 50%. Reliability of air and bone conduction PTAs and WRS in predicting failure of stapedotomy. Results Fifty-eight patients were divided into three groups: group I, primary stapedotomy (n = 32); group II, primary cochlear implantation (n = 9); and group III, secondary cochlear implantation (with a previous history of stapedotomy) (n = 25). The mean postoperative WRS were 50.6% (±34), 75% (±17), and 72% (±20), respectively. Sixty percent of patients in the stapedotomy group had a postoperative WRS greater than 50% requiring no further treatment, compared to 85% for cochlear implant recipients. No specific predictive factors for stapedotomy outcome could be identified. Surgical difficulties during cochlear implantation were significantly higher in patients with advanced radiological stage. Conclusion Although cochlear implantation gives better overall results, stapedotomy with hearing aids can still be very effective in the management of patients with far-advanced otosclerosis. It should therefore be proposed as a first-line treatment.
Promoting school connectedness through whole school approaches

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to demonstrate the contribution of whole school approaches embodied by the health‐promoting school approach, to the promotion of school connectedness, defined as the cohesiveness between diverse groups in the school community, including students, families, school staff and the wider community.Design/methodology/approach – A cross‐disciplinary review of literature was conducted to identify strategies consistent with the health‐promoting school approach and the values and principles that promote school connectedness. The review included peer‐reviewed articles and published books and reports identified from the databases spanning the education, health, social science and science disciplines and used search terms encompassing health and mental health promotion, schools, social connectedness, belonging and attachment. The paper is also a framework of the contribution of the health‐promoting school approach to promoting school connectedness and was d.
Síndrome de desgaste profesional en el personal asistencial pediátrico

BACKGROUND: Burnout syndrome (BS) is a chronic adaptation disorder that provokes serious problems in occupational behavior. OBJECTIVE: In the present study we assessed the prevalence of burnout syndrome in pediatric healthcare workers. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In November 2002, the Maslach Burnout Inventory was given to 127 staff members (doctors, nurses and nurse assistants) working in a pediatrics department. The questionnaire includes 22 items that explore three aspects of BS: a) emotional exhaustion; b) depersonalization, and c) personal achievement. RESULTS: The questionnaire was completed by 93 staff members (73.2 % of the whole sample; 83 % women and 17 % men). The mean age was 38.6 +/- 10.2 years and the median number of years worked was 10 (range: 1-37 years). Twenty-nine percent were pediatricians, 50.5 % were nurses and 20.5 % were nurse assistants. A total of 20.8 % had a high level of BS, 19.8 % had a moderate level and 59.4 % showed a low level. When sub-scales were applied, the results showed that 67.7 % of respondents presented a low level of personal achievement, 14.5 % had high scores of emotional exhaustion and 23.9 % obtained high scores in the depersonalization scale. CONCLUSIONS: BS is present in a significant percentage of hospital workers attending pediatric patients. In our sample, the most notable component of BS was the lack of personal achievement. This finding alerted us to the eventual presence of negative attitudes toward self and professional activity, as well as to the loss of interest in pediatric care, low productivity and diminished self-esteem. We believe that specific strategies should be implemented to attenuate the factors influencing the development of BS in pediatric health staff.
The Association of Parental Self-Efficacy and Parent–Youth Connectedness With Youth Smoking Intentions

Little attention has been paid to understanding how parents of differing race/ethnicity perceive their effectiveness in exercising anti-smoking parenting practices and how these behaviors affect youth's smoking intentions. We explored the association of parent–youth connectedness and parental self-efficacy and youths’ smoking intentions in a group of African American and Caucasian never-smokers. Based on Social Bonding Theory and Social Learning Theory, a questionnaire was administered to nonsmoking, 9–16-year-old youth and parent dyads, assessing youth smoking intentions and parental measures of connectedness and self-efficacy. Youth risk factors for intending to smoke were increased parent–youth conflict and protective factors were increased parental monitoring, increased parental rule setting, and higher parental self-efficacy. Parent–youth connectedness and parental self-efficacy did not differ by parental smoking status or by race/ethnicity. Our findings underscore the importance of strong parenting practices and parental self-efficacy in protecting against youth intention to smoke and these may be important to target in future interventions.
The use of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of endocrine orbitopathy

Patients with endocrine orbitopathy (Graves' disease) are often euthyroid when seen, up to half may have normal Werner suppression tests, and frequently have no known history of thyroid disease. Ultrasonography. especially using quantitative A-scan techniques. provides the simplest and most reliable means of diagnosing endocrine orbitopathy. Accurate and reproducible measurements can be made of rectus muscle thicknesses, as well as of the size of the subdural perineural space about the optic nerve. One hundred consecutive patients in whom the diagnosis of endocrine orbitopathy was made by diagnostic ophthalmic ultrasonography are herein considered.While the clinical presentation may be unilateral, ultrasonography will demonstrate bilateral abnormalities (and, in fact. this is a necessary condition for making the diagnosis). These may occasionally be extremely subtle. perhaps consisting of no more than an otherwise inexplicable increase in the subdural perineural space about the retrobulbar optic nerves; w.
Early Childhood Obesity Prevention in Low-Income, Urban Communities

Given the disproportionately high rates of obesity-related morbidity among low-income, ethnic minority youth, obesity prevention in this population is critical. Prior efforts to curb childhood obesity have had limited public health impact. The present study evaluates an innovative approach to obesity prevention by promoting foundational parenting and child behavioral regulation. This pre–post intervention study evaluated an enhanced version of ParentCorps with 91 families of pre-Kindergarten students in low-income, urban communities. Assessments included tests of knowledge and parent report. Consistent with findings from two randomized controlled trials of ParentCorps, parent knowledge and use of foundational parenting practices increased and child behavior problems decreased. Child nutrition knowledge and physical activity increased and television watching decreased; for boys, sleep problems decreased. Comparable benefits occurred for children at high risk for obesity based on child dysregulation, child overweight, and parent overweight. Results support a “whole child,” family-centered approach to health promotion in early childhood.
The Impact of Electrode Array Length on Hearing Preservation in Cochlear Implantation

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the degree of hearing preservation (HP) and its relation to electrode array length after cochlear implantation using different thin flexible electrode arrays (TFEA). Study Design: Retrospective analysis. Intervention: One hundred twenty adult patients with preoperative residual hearing received a cochlear implant with a TFEA: 46 received a TFEA20, 34 a TFEA24, and 40 a TFEA28 mm. Main Outcome Measures: Pure-tone audiometry (125–1500 Hz) was performed preoperatively, at initial fitting, and at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. Median hearing loss (HL) was determined for each of the three array groups. The pre- to postoperative pure-tone average difference was scaled into three groups (⩽15 dB, >15 to ⩽30 dB, >30 dB) for array group. Results: At initial fitting, median HL of 17.5 dB (TFEA20), 20 dB (TFEA24), and 24 dB (TFEA28) was observed. At 12 months, medial HL of 15 dB (TFEA20), 19.4 dB (TFEA24), and 32.5 dB (TFEA28) was observed. At initial fitting, a HL of ⩽15 dB was achieved in 45.6% TFEA20 subjects, 29.4% TFEA24 subjects, and 15.0% TFEA28 subjects; compared with 48.8% TFEA20 subjects, 50.0% TFEA24 subjects, and 15.8% TFEA28 subjects at 12 months. Conclusion: HP is possible in the majority of subjects who are implanted with a TFEA20, 24, or 28. Using shorter arrays led to greater HP and lower median HL.
Radical treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancer with concurrent chemo radiation-cisplatin versus carboplatin: A randomized comparative phase III trial

Context: Concurrent chemoradiation with cisplatin is a standard approach for definitive management of locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LAHNSCC). Carboplatin, though a platinum group of drug, is generally well-tolerated compared to cisplatin. Aim: The aim is whether carboplatin can be a substitute of cisplatin with equivalent response and with less toxicity profile. Settings and Design: Single institutional prospective randomized phase III study. Materials and Methods: Between January 2011 and August 2012, 100 patients LAHNSCC with normal comorbidities were included. The patients in Arm A received injection carboplatin (AUC 6) 3 weeks along with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) dose 66-70 Gy in conventional fractionation and Arm B received injection cisplatin (100 mg/m 2 ) 3 weeks with same EBRT schedule. Detailed clinical examination along with biopsy for residual or recurrent disease, CT scan of head and neck were done to assess the response, toxicities, and disease-free survival (DFS) in follow-up. Statistical Analysis Used: SPSS version 17 used for statistical calculation. For categorical variables, Chi-Square and Fisher Exact tests were used. For continuous variables, independent samples t test were used with 95% CI. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used for comparing the DFS. Results: Overall response rate (CR + PR) were 76.9% in Arm A and 63.6% in Arm B ( P = 0.06, non-significant). Statistically significant acute skin ( P = 0.003), mucosa ( P = 0.003), and upper GI ( P = Conclusions: It can be concluded that carboplatin is non-inferior in response with statistically significant less toxicities when compared with cisplatin.
Risk factors for early presbyopia in Nigerians

A hospital based prospective study was conducted to determine the pattern, age of onset and contributory factors to early onset of presbyopia in a major referral center in south western Nigeria between October 2001 and September 2003. Patients with any systemic or ocular pathologies and anisometropia of more than one dioptre were excluded from the study. The study revealed that 15.5% of the patients had presbyopia before age 40 years. The youngest age of presentation was 33 years. Majority of these presbyopic patients were students (29.4%) and teachers (24.5%). Males had higher degrees (>3.00ds) of presbyopic errors than females. Increased visual task is a major factor contributing to onset before 35 years. It is concluded that Presbuyopia sets in much earlier in Nigerians and increased visual activity is a major contributing factor. Nigerian Journal of Surgical Sciences Vol.16(1) 2006: 7-11
Standardized Screening Measures for Alcohol and Other Drug Problems: Completion Rates and Impact on Treatment Motivation

Screening is a recognized way of identifying potential alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues, but little is known about client and clinician experiences of screening and its impact on motivation for further treatment. Data was collected from 98 clients across five Victorian AOD services, who completed a standardized screening instrument, including measures of desire for help and treatment readiness before and after screening. Rates of completion of standardized screening instruments were higher for client self-complete components as compared to clinician-administered screens. Screening had no adverse effect on clients' desire for help or treatment readiness, and although nonsignificant, there was a slight increase in clients' desire for help following screening. These findings suggest that a battery of standardized screening instruments is acceptable to clients.
E-Service and the Consumer

Many Internet applications do not fully utilize the unique nature of the Web, which in its purest form involves interactive, personalized information service. The true nature of the Web, here termed e-service, will be the key to marketing most effectively to the consumer, for it is the logical continuation of a 100-year trend toward information service in the economy. This paper examines the aspects of e-service that are critical in effectively interacting with consumers in interactive, networked information environments like the Internet. It discusses three central changes brought about by the advent of the Internet (true interactivity with the consumer, customer-specific, situational personalization, and the opportunity for real-time adjustments to a firm's offering to customers), as well as changes in consumer expectations regarding firm service strategies that flow from these developments. Based upon these changes in technology and consumer expectations, important elements of the e-service experience are defined. The paper concludes by showing how e-service strategies will play a significant role in growing the overall value of the firm. In each of these areas, a set of research questions is proposed that will lead to a stronger understanding of e-service and consumer behavior.
The Effect of the Dispersion of Review Ratings on Evaluations of Hedonic Versus Utilitarian Products

ABSTRACT Using the information-diagnosticity framework, this study demonstrates that when exposed to highly versus lowly dispersed ratings, consumers evaluate hedonic products more positively than they do utilitarian products. Three experiments offer evidence to support this prediction, by comparing music files and car navigation devices (Experiment 1), fiction books and driver’s license test preparation books (Experiment 2), and two smartphone apps, a comic book and a voice translator (Experiment 3). Compared to lowly dispersed ratings, highly dispersed ratings improve the evaluation of hedonic products by reducing the perceived uncertainty of how accurately one can predict decision outcomes in terms of achieving the decision goals. The proposed effect also emerges as more pronounced when the average ratings are high rather than low. This observation adds refinements to existing reference-dependent models by showing that the pursuit of hedonic goals reverses general preferences for low over high dispersions of ratings at high average levels. Overall, this study offers an explanation for the previously mixed findings on the effect of the dispersion of review ratings by focusing on the notion of preference heterogeneity, which underlies the difference between hedonic and utilitarian products.
Cross-Border Electronic Commerce: Distance Effects and Express Delivery in European Union Markets

ABSTRACT This empirical study examines distance effects on cross-border electronic commerce and in particular the importance of express delivery in reducing the time dimension of distance. E-commerce provides suppliers with a range of opportunities to reduce distance as perceived by online buyers. They can reduce psychological barriers to cross-border demand by designing websites that simplify the search for and comparison of products and suppliers across countries. They can reduce cost barriers by applying pricing strategies that redistribute transportation costs, and they can overcome time barriers offering express delivery services. This study of 721 regions in five countries of the European Union shows that distance is not “dead” in e-commerce, that express delivery reduces distance for cross-border demand, and that e-demand delivered by express services is more time sensitive and less price sensitive than e-demand satisfied by standard delivery. The willingness of e-customers to pay for express services is shown to be affected by income and by the relative lead-time benefits and express charges. Furthermore, the adoption of express delivery is positively associated with e-loyalty in terms of repurchase rates. The results confirm the importance for e-suppliers of cleverly designed delivery services to reduce distance in order to attract online customers across borders.