Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Special Article: National Surveillance of Dialysis‐Associated Diseases in the United States, 2001

In December 2001, all U.S. chronic hemodialysis (HD) centers were surveyed regarding selected patient care practices and dialysis‐associated diseases. The results were compared with similar surveys conducted in previous years. During 1997–2001, the percentage of patients vaccinated against hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection increased from 47% to 60% and the percentage of staff vaccinated increased from 87% to 89%. In 2001, an estimated 65% of patients had been vaccinated for influenza and 26% for pneumococcal pneumonia. In 2001, routine testing for antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti‐HCV) was performed on staff at 42% of centers and on patients at 62% of centers; anti‐HCV was found in 1.5% of staff and 8.6% of patients. In 2001, the incidence of HBV infection was higher among patients in centers where injectable medications were prepared at the dialysis station, and both HCV prevalence and incidence were higher among patients in centers where injectable medications were prepared at the dialysis station compared to a dedicated medication room. During 1995–2001, the percentage of patients who received dialysis through central catheters increased from 13% to 25%; this trend is worrisome, as infections and antimicrobial use are higher among patients receiving dialysis through catheters. However, during the same period, the percentage of patients receiving dialysis through fistulas increased from 22% to 30%. In 2001, 25% of catheters were used for new patients awaiting an arteriovenous (AV) access, 28% for established patients with a failed access awaiting new AV access, 40% as an access of last resort, and 6% for other reasons, including patient preference. The percentage of centers reporting one or more patients infected or colonized with vancomycin‐resistant enterococcus (VRE) increased from 12% in 1995 to 31% in 2001.
Inbred Strains Should Replace Outbred Stocks in Toxicology, Safety Testing, and Drug Development

Methods of toxicity testing, barely changed for several decades, need to be improved. One way forward would be to use a small battery of inbred strains instead of the single outbred stock currently used in toxicity screening. Inbred strains are more stable, more uniform, more repeatable, and better defined than outbred stocks. Genetic variation would be observed as the difference between strains. Safety could be based on the most susceptible strain. Sometimes it may be possible to identify the genes involved. Mechanisms could be explored using gene expression profiling of susceptible and resistant strains. Two committees of toxicologists have concluded that the use of inbred strains, by controlling interindividual variability, would reduce the number of animals needed in toxicity screening, although both “preferred” outbred stocks. This preference appears to have been based on intuition rather than scientific principles. Data from a previously published study on the response to chloramphenicol in an outbred stock and four inbred strains is used to explain the advantages of the multistrain design. Toxicologists, safety pharmacologists, regulatory authorities, and pharmaceutical companies should take a critical look at the types of animals they use if they want to reduce the attrition rate of new drugs.
How patients with dementia spend their time in a psycho-geriatric unit.

This paper presents the findings of a work sampling study conducted at an assessment unit for patients with dementia at a university hospital in Northern Sweden. The aim of the study was to describe the activity of the demented patients' day at a psycho-geriatric unit, and to investigate the correlation between the patients' characteristics and time provided by nursing staff, in order to increase our knowledge of institutionalized demented patients situation. The sample consisted of 24 patients with dementia. The activities of patients were monitored at 10-min interval between 7.00 a.m. and 9.10 p.m. In total, 2024 activities were recorded. The findings showed that being demented and placed in a psycho-geriatric unit is a life in solitude for most of the time. The variation in time patients spent in solitude could partly be explained by their communication abilities. For patients with dementia, communion is essential for their well-being. In order to develop their well-being, it seems important to enhance our knowledge about the reasons, that influence the nursing staffs' perceptions of patients with dementia, to decrease their time in solitude.
Inactivation of hepatitis B virus in plasma by hospital in-use chemical disinfectants assessed by a modified HepG2 cell culture.

Because of the difficulties of the chimpanzee model and the genetic differences using the duck model, we developed a cell culture method to measure human hepatitis B virus (HBV) inactivation in vitro. Pooled HBV-infected human plasma that had been exposed to a disinfectant was left in contact for three days with a cell culture of the human hepatoma cell line, HepG2, with 4% polyethyleneglycol and 3 mM sodium butyrate. The mean log10 of the viral titre of unexposed plasma was 4.87 infectious units per mL. Our results showed that 1% glutaraldehyde, sodium hypochlorite at 4700 ppm free chlorine and an iodophor-detergent disinfectant containing 3.6% povidone-iodine reduced viral titres by factors exceeding 10(3)-10(4). However, sodium hypochlorite at 1000 ppm free chlorine had minimal activity and povidone-iodine at 9, 5 and 3.6% had no measurable activity (less than 10-fold reduction). This is the first study using a cell culture model to assess disinfectant activity against HBV. It demonstrates more rapidly than the chimpanzee model that glutaraldehyde and sodium hypochlorite, using standard concentrations and exposure times compatible with clinical practice, were highly active against HBV. However, unexpectedly for an enveloped virus, we found no antiviral activity for iodine in the absence of detergent.
Paraoxonase (PON) 1, 2 and 3 expression in granulosa cells and PON1 activity in follicular fluid of dairy cows.

Normal metabolic activity in ovarian follicles may result in oxidative stress and damage to oocytes. The aim of this study was to evaluate expression of the natural anti-oxidants paraoxonase (PON) 1, 2 and 3 in granulosa cells and PON1 activity in follicular fluid (FF) and plasma of dairy cows. For the first experiment, ovaries were collected from cows at slaughter, after which follicles were dissected and classified as oestrogen active (EAF) or atretic (ATF). Expression of PON1, PON2 and PON3 mRNA was evaluated in granulosa cells, and activity of PON1 was measured in FF. PON1 mRNA was undetectable in granulosa cells, PON2 mRNA expression was not different between follicle types, and PON3 mRNA tended to be higher in EAF (p = 0.11). The activity of PON1 in FF was higher (p = 0.01) for EAF (82.6 ± 8.0 kU/L) than ATF (53.9 ± 6.8 kU/L), as were high-density lipoproteins (HDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and total cholesterol concentrations. In the second experiment, we aimed to compare plasma and FF PON1 activity in early lactation Holstein cows (n = 15) with pre-ovulatory EAF. Activity of PON1 was twofold higher (p < 0.0001) in plasma (122.5 ± 11.1 kU/L) than in FF (61.4 ± 5.2 kU/L). Plasma concentrations were also higher (p < 0.0001) for HDL, LDL and total cholesterol when compared to FF. In conclusion, FF concentrations of PON1, HDL, LDL and total cholesterol were higher in healthy oestrogen active bovine follicles than in atretic follicles. PON1 was not expressed by granulosa cells indicating that high PON1 activity in bovine FF is apparently derived by transfer from blood in association with HDL.
Chronic pulmonary disorders in sickle cell disease: findings at thin-section CT.

PURPOSE To characterize the non-acute abnormalities seen at computed tomography (CT) in patients with sickle cell (SC) disease and a prior history of acute chest syndrome (ACS)-pneumonia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-nine patients with SC disease who had experienced one to more than 10 (median, six) previous episodes of ACS-pneumonia were prospectively studied with thin-section CT of the thorax. Scans were graded for interstitial disease and assigned a disease index ranging from 0 to 3. Twenty-four patients underwent pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and measurement of their blood gasses. RESULTS Twelve of the 29 patients (41%) had significant interstitial disease that was multifocal. A correlation was found between the disease index and number of episodes of ACS-pneumonia (P = .02) but not between the disease index and PFT results. CONCLUSION Thin-section CT demonstrates significant multifocal interstitial lung abnormalities in 41% of selected patients with SC disease. The pattern is most consistent with scarring from episodes of infarction or infection.
Improving Student Mathematics Achievement through Self Regulation and Goal Setting

As middle school students’ mathematic scores decline in comparison to other countries, researchers have found self-regulation to be a tool to improve students’ mathematics achievement. The following is an action research project conducted in a middle school where result showed an increase in students’ mathematics achievement. Middle school students’ mathematics achievement is of great concern to policy makers and educators. Compared to other countries, the United States trails behind in middle school students’ mathematics achievement. Many factors contribute to this difference such as parental involvement, students’ self-efficacy, teaching structure, and students’ self-regulated learning (Slavin, Lake, & Groff, 2009). As middle school students’ mathematic scores decline in comparison to other countries, researchers have found self-regulation to be a possible remedy for improving students’ mathematics achievement. The purpose of action research is to increase student achievement, as defined by results in teacher-generated tests in mathematics, and to help students become mangers of their own learning. In accordance with research findings, it is the hypothesis of this action research project that the implementation of self-regulation and goal setting will enhance student mathematics achievement, as measured by teacher generated exams. This study was guided by the following question: Can the implementation of self-regulation through goal setting improve student mathematics achievement? Theoretical Foundation Social Cognitive theory views students’ behavior and learning as a continuous interaction (reciprocal causation) between personal, behavioral, and environmental factors (Bandura, 1989). Personal factors that can influence students’ learning are their self-efficacy, emotions, knowledge, and goals. Behavioral factors are the actions that students take or fail to take. Environmental factors are the students’ physical environment (Zimmerman, 1989). According to Bandura (1989), self-regulation provides students a foundation for purposeful action by allowing them to have control over their thoughts, feelings, and factors that affect their learning. In addition, self-regulation provides students with a system that can help them control external factors that influence them (Bandura, 1989). Self-regulation, from a social cognitive perspective, is an internal process that influences what actions (behavior) will be taken (Ziimmerman, 1989). As students learn to self regulate, they begin not only how to control the way they think but also how to manipulate their behaviors and environment for the benefit of
Assessing the Health of Women in Prison: A Study from the United Kingdom

The number of women imprisoned in the United Kingdom is rising rapidly, but there is little research on their health and well-being. We could find no studies in which the researchers had used measures of subjective health status to gain a picture of the health of imprisoned women. This self-completed questionnaire study aimed to explore the usefulness of the Short Form 36 (SF-36) in a general female prison population. The scores of imprisoned women for all but 3 of the 8 dimensions were significantly lower than those for women in the social class with the worst health in the United Kingdom, confirming the very poor mental and physical health of this population.
Association of diabetes, serum insulin, and c‐peptide with gallbladder disease

An inconsistent association has been found between gallbladder disease and diabetes mellitus. We hypothesized that insulin resistance rather than diabetes status may be a primary factor involved in gallstone formation. A total of 5,653 adult participants in the third United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey without known diabetes underwent gallbladder ultrasonography and phlebotomy after an overnight fast for measurement of serum insulin, C‐peptide, and glucose. Gallbladder disease was defined as ultrasound‐documented gallstones or evidence of cholecystectomy. Subjects were characterized as having normal fasting glucose (<110 mg/dL), impaired fasting glucose (110 to <126 mg/dL), or undiagnosed diabetes (≥126 mg/dL). After controlling for other known gallbladder disease risk factors, among women, undiagnosed diabetes was associated with increased risk of gallbladder disease (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.29‐2.83); whereas impaired fasting glucose was unassociated. Gallbladder disease risk in women increased with levels of fasting insulin (PR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.11‐2.40) and C‐peptide (PR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.32‐3.25) comparing highest to lowest quintiles. However, the association of gallbladder disease with undiagnosed diabetes was not diminished when the model included fasting insulin (PR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.24‐2.77). In men, there was a statistically nonsignificant association with undiagnosed diabetes (PR = 2.11, 95% CI = 0.76‐5.85), but no association of gallbladder disease with insulin or C‐peptide. Among women higher fasting serum insulin levels increased the risk of gallbladder disease, but did not account for the increased risk in persons with diabetes.
Serum Concentrations of Antidepressant Drugs in a Naturalistic Setting: Compilation Based on a Large Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Database

A compilation of therapeutic drug monitoring data for 15 antidepressant drugs in a naturalistic routine clinical setting is presented. A substantial number of serum concentrations, at different daily doses, are outlined, and the intraindividual and overall serum concentration coefficient of variation for a respective substance is presented. Also, concentration comparisons between women and men, and patients older or younger than 65 years are made. The drugs included are amitriptyline (n = 394), citalopram (n = 5457), clomipramine (n = 400), escitalopram (n = 3066), fluoxetine (n = 793), fluvoxamine (n = 165), mianserin (n = 1063), mirtazapine (n = 1427), moclobemide (n = 200), nortriptyline (n = 206), paroxetine (n = 1677), reboxetine (n = 85), sertraline (n = 2998), trimipramine (n = 158), and venlafaxine (n = 1781). Of the 9 drugs exhibiting linear (first order) kinetics, all but reboxetine gave a significant negative dose-to-dose-normalized correlation with concentrations, that is an increased clearance with higher dose. When dose was correlated to the metabolite:parent substance ratio for drugs exhibiting linear kinetics, citalopram and mianserin gave a positive slope, contrary to a negative slope shown for sertraline and venlafaxine. The intraindividual variations of the serum concentrations were lower than the overall variations, and the intraindividual variation of the metabolite:parent substance ratio was lower than the intraindividual variation of respective parent substance (except clomipramine and mianserin). Women had significantly higher serum concentrations than men (significant for citalopram, escitalopram, mianserin, mirtazapine, and venlafaxine), and patients older than 65 years had higher serum concentrations than the younger ones for all drugs except amitriptyline, moclobemide, and trimipramine. By presenting a comprehensive compilation of therapeutic drug monitoring data for each drug, a reference tool is created, in addition to improved pharmacokinetic knowledge of antidepressant drugs.
Nutritional, Microbiological and Rheological Characteristics of Porridges Prepared from Infant Flours Based on Germinated and Fermented Cereals Fortified with Soybean

From the age of 6 months, breast milk is no longer sufficient to meet infant nutritional needs, therefore consumption of other foods is necessary to complement what breast milk provides, according to WHO recommendations (WHO, 2003). Adoption of recommended complementary feeding practices and access to the appropriate quality and quantity foods are essential components of optimal nutrition for infants and young children (Songré-Ouattara et al., 2016). Indeed, complementary feeding period is the time when malnutrition starts in many infant and it significantly contributes to the high prevalence of malnutrition in children under 5 years of age worldwide (WHO, 2012). Many factors contribute to the vulnerability of children during the complementary feeding The complementary feeding was a critical period for the child‟s growth. The germination and fermentation processes were used to improve the properties of infant flours-based maize, sorghum and soybeans. The physico-chemical and the nutritional composition of the porridges prepared from these infant flours were d etermined. The incorporation of roasted soybean flour, sugar and „‟baobab‟‟ pulp in the traditional germinated infant flour (containing germinated maize and sorghum flours in rate 50/50) improved the taste of porridge and the dry matter increasing from 25.31% to 31.23%. The energy value increased from 101.24% to 124.92 kcal and protein levels from 10.20% to 16.65%. In the fermentation process, the use of „‟Mawè‟‟ (dehulled and fermented maize dough) andthe incorporation of roasted soybean flour, germinated maize flour, sugar and „‟baobab‟‟pulp in traditional infant flour (containing “Mawè” flour, roasted sorghum flour and “Mawè” dough in rate 50/46/04) improved the dry matter to increasing from 22, 98% to 30.09%. Consequently, the energy value increased from 91.92 kcal to 120.36 kcal and the protein levels from 2.73% to 15.32%. These fermented and germinated infant flours allowed to prepare infants porridges according to the standards which could contribute to the fighting of child‟ malnutrition. K e y w o r d s
Evaluation of the geometric accuracy of anatomic landmarks as surrogates for intrapulmonary tumors in image-guided radiotherapy.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate the geometric accuracy of thoracic anatomic landmarks as target surrogates of intrapulmonary tumors for manual rigid registration during image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT). METHODS Kilovolt cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images acquired during IGRT for 29 lung cancer patients with 33 tumors, including 16 central and 17 peripheral lesions, were analyzed. We selected the "vertebrae", "carina", and "large bronchi" as the candidate surrogates for central targets, and the "vertebrae", "carina", and "ribs" as the candidate surrogates for peripheral lesions. Three to six pairs of small identifiable markers were noted in the tumors for the planning CT and Day 1 CBCT. The accuracy of the candidate surrogates was evaluated by comparing the distances of the corresponding markers after manual rigid matching based on the "tumor" and a particular surrogate. Differences between the surrogates were assessed using 1-way analysis of variance and post hoc least-significant-difference tests. RESULTS For central targets, the residual errors increased in the following ascending order: "tumor", "bronchi", "carina", and "vertebrae"; there was a significant difference between "tumor" and "vertebrae" (p=0.010). For peripheral diseases, the residual errors increased in the following ascending order: "tumor", "ribs", "vertebrae", and "carina". There was a significant difference between "tumor" and "carina" (p=0.005). CONCLUSIONS The "bronchi" and "carina" are the optimal surrogates for central lung targets, while "ribs" and "vertebrae" are the optimal surrogates for peripheral lung targets for manual matching of online and planned tumors.
Role balance and team development: A study of team role characteristics underlying high and low performing teams

It has been suggested that the performance of a team is determined by the team members’ roles. An analysis of the performance of 342 individuals organised into 33 teams indicates that team roles characterised by creativity, co-ordination and co-operation are positively correlated with team performance. Members of developed teams exhibit certain performance enhancing characteristics and behaviours. Amongst the more developed teams there is a positive relationship between Specialist Role characteristics and team performance. While the characteristics associated with the Co-ordinator Role are also positively correlated with performance, these can impede the performance of less developed teams.
Phase shifts in driven stochastic nonlinear systems.

The dynamics of bistable stochastic systems driven by oscillating fields is analyzed by numerically solving the Fokker-Planck equation. The long time response is oscillatory in time and out of phase with respect to the field. The phase shift as a function of the noise D has a peak for weak fields and low frequencies if intrawell fluctuations are considered, in agreement with linear response theory. The amplitude has a peak, but for a different value of D, even if intrawell fluctuations are neglected. We also analyze the behavior for strong fields so that linear response theory becomes questionable.
Ultraporous β-tricalcium phosphate alone or combined with bone marrow aspirate for benign cavitary lesions: comparison in a prospective randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Ultraporous β-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) synthetic graft material (Vitoss; Orthovita) persists for a year or longer in some cases. In this study, we prospectively examined healing of cavitary defects filled with TCP versus TCP and bone marrow aspirate (TCP/BM) with the hypothesis that bone-marrow aspirate speeds incorporation of bone graft substitute. METHODS Fifty-five patients with a benign bone lesion undergoing surgical curettage were randomized to receive TCP (N = 26; mean duration of follow-up [and standard deviation], 20.2 ± 7.2 months) or TCP/BM (N = 29; mean duration of follow-up, 18.0 ± 7.7 months). There were no significant differences between the groups with regard to demographic or defect parameters. Clinical and radiographic evaluations were done at 1.5, three, six, twelve, eighteen, and twenty-four months, and computed tomography [CT] scans were performed at twelve months. An independent radiographic review was done to evaluate six parameters. RESULTS There was a significant (p < 0.001) increase in trabeculation through the defect and graft resorption with decreases in the persistence of the graft in both soft tissue and the defect as well as a decreased radiolucent rim around the graft over time. No significant differences were observed between the TCP and TCP/BM groups in terms of any radiographic parameter. No complications related to the graft material or BM were identified. CONCLUSIONS While significant improvements in radiographic parameters were observed in both TCP groups over two years of follow-up, the addition of BM was not found to provide any significant benefit. Results should not be extrapolated to other bone graft substitutes used for this purpose.