Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temporal trends in postseroconversion CD4 cell count and HIV load: the Concerted Action on Seroconversion to AIDS and Death in Europe Collaboration, 1985-2002.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether early postseroconversion CD4 cell counts and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) loads have changed over time. METHODS Our analysis was based on 22 cohorts of people with known dates of seroconversion from Europe, Australia, and Canada (Concerted Action on Seroconversion to AIDS and Death in Europe Collaboration). We focused on individuals seroconverting between 1985 and 2002 who had the first CD4 cell count (n=3687) or HIV load (n=1584) measured within 2 years of seroconversion and before antiretroviral use. Linear regression models were used to assess time trends in postseroconversion CD4 cell count and HIV load. Trends in time to key thresholds were also assessed, using survival analysis. RESULTS The overall median initial CD4 cell count was 570 cells/ microL (interquartile range [IQR], 413-780 cells/ microL). The median initial HIV load was 35,542 copies/mL (IQR, 7600-153,050 copies/mL; on log(10) scale, 3.9-5.2 log(10) copies/mL). The postseroconversion CD4 cell count changed by an average of -6.33 cells/ microL/year (95% confidence interval [CI], -8.47 to -4.20 cells/ microL/year; P<.001), whereas an increase was observed in log(10) HIV load (+0.044 log(10) copies/mL/year; 95% CI, +0.034 to +0.053 log(10) copies/mL/year). These trends remained after adjusting for potential confounders. The probability of progressing to a CD4 cell count of <500 cells/ microL by 24 months from seroconversion increased from 0.66 (95% CI, 0.63-0.69) for individuals who seroconverted before 1991 to 0.80 (95% CI, 0.75-0.84) for those who seroconverted during 1999-2002. CONCLUSION These data suggest that, in Europe, there has been a trend of decrease in the early CD4 cell count and of increase in the early HIV load. Additional research will be necessary to determine whether similar trends exist in other geographical areas.
Publication bias in the pulmonary/allergy literature: effect of pharmaceutical company sponsorship.

BACKGROUND A publication bias exists towards positive results in studies funded by pharmaceutical companies. OBJECTIVES To determine whether drug studies in the pulmonary/allergy literature also demonstrate a publication bias towards more favorable results when a pharmaceutical company funds the study. METHODS We reviewed all original articles published in seven pulmonary and allergy journals between October 2002 and September 2003. Included in the review were studies of inhaled corticosteroids (oral or nasal), long- or short-acting bronchodilators, or leukotriene receptor antagonists. Articles with funding from a pharmaceutical company and/or one or more authors employed by a pharmaceutical company were considered pharmaceutical company-sponsored studies. The remaining studies were considered not sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. Results were compared to ascertain whether positive results were obtained more frequently in the company-sponsored studies. RESULTS Of the 100 articles included in this review 63 were considered pharmaceutical company-sponsored research. Results favorable for the drugs studies were significantly more common in those funded by a pharmaceutical company (98% vs. 32%). CONCLUSIONS In the pulmonary and allergy literature, as in other fields, there is a publication bias towards positive results in pharmaceutical company-sponsored research.
Topography of intensity tuning in cat primary auditory cortex: single-neuron versus multiple-neuron recordings.

1. We studied the spatial distributions of amplitude tuning (monotonicity of rate-level functions) and response threshold of single neurons along the dorsoventral extent of cat primary auditory cortex (AI). To pool data across animals, we used the multiple-unit map of monotonicity as a frame of reference. Amplitude selectivity of multiple units is known to vary systematically along isofrequency contours, which run roughly in the dorsoventral direction. Clusters sharply tuned for intensity (i.e., "nonmonotonic" clusters) are located near the center of the contour. A second nonmonotonic region can be found several millimeters dorsal to the center. We used the locations of these two nonmonotonic regions as reference points to normalize data across animals. Additionally, to compare this study to sharpness of frequency tuning results, we also used multiple-unit bandwidth (BW) maps as references to pool data. 2. The multiple-unit amplitude-related topographies recorded in previous studies were confirmed. Pooled multiple-unit maps closely approximated the previously reported individual case maps when the multiple-unit monotonicity or the map of bandwidth (in octaves) of pure tones to which a cell responds 40 dB above minimum threshold were used as the pooling reference. When the map of bandwidth (in octaves) of pure tones to which a cell responds 10 dB above minimum threshold map was used as part of the measure, the pooled spatial pattern of multiple-unit activity was degraded. 3. Single neurons exhibited nonmonotonic rate-level functions more frequently than multiple units. Although common in single-neuron recordings (28%), strongly nonmonotonic recordings (firing rates reduced by > 50% at high intensities) were uncommon (8%) in multiple-unit recordings. Intermediately nonmonotonic neurons (firing rates reduced between 20% and 50% at high intensities) occurred with nearly equal probability in single-neuron (28%) and multiple-unit (26%) recordings. The remaining recordings for multiple units (66%) and single units (44%) were monotonic (firing rates within 20% of the maximum at the highest tested intensity). 4. In ventral AI (AIv), the topography of monotonicity for single units was qualitatively similar to multiple units, although single units were on average more intensity selective. In dorsal AI (AId) we consistently found a spatial gradient for sharpness of intensity tuning for multiple units; however, for pooled single units in Aid there was no clear topographic gradient. 5. Response (intensity) thresholds of single neurons were not uniformly distributed across the dorsoventral extent of AI. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Veterans' perceptions of care by nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians: A comparison from satisfaction surveys

Purpose: To examine the differences in patient satisfaction with care provided by nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and physicians in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system. Data source: Secondary data was obtained from the VHA's Survey of Healthcare Experience of Patients (SHEP), a monthly survey designed to measure patient satisfaction. Descriptive statistics were calculated and categorical variables were summarized with frequency counts. Conclusions: Of the 2,164,559 surveys mailed to the veterans, 1,601,828 (response rate 64%) were returned. The study found that satisfaction scores increased by 5% when the number of NPs was increased compared to 1.8% when the number of physicians was increased and slightly increased or remained the same when the number of PAs was increased. Physician to PA/NP ratio was 7:3. Implications for practice: The VHA is the largest healthcare system and the single largest employer of NPs and PAs in the country. This study shows that a majority of the primary care clinic patients prefer to see NPs as compared with PAs and physicians. Besides clinical care, NPs focus on health promotion, disease prevention, health education, attentiveness, and counseling. Physicians and PAs should be educated on these characteristics to promote patient satisfaction and expected outcomes.
HOW USEFUL IS THE SKULL X‐RAY EXAMINATION IN TRAUMA?

Abnormalities were detected only in 24 (2.3%) of 1053 skull X‐ray examinations performed in cases of suspected head trauma, at a cost of $1461 per positive finding. Only in six cases (0.6%) was treatment influenced by the radiological findings. Skull X‐ray examination is indicated if a depressed fracture, compound fracture, or radio‐opaque foreign body is suspected, and these patients are reliably selected by certain clinical criteria. The skull X‐ray film is not a reliable guide to the presence or extent of intracranial injury, nor is it a substitute for careful clinical evaluation, observation and re‐evaluation. The medicolegal implications of this restrictive policy are discussed.
Direct-Sun column ozone retrieval by the ultraviolet multifilter rotating shadow-band radiometer and comparison with those from Brewer and Dobson spectrophotometers.

A methodology for direct-Sun ozone retrieval using the ultraviolet multifilter rotating shadow-band radiometer (UV-MFRSR) is presented. Total vertical column ozone was retrieved in three stations: Mauna Loa, Hawaii, in the U.S., and Regina, Saskatchewan, and Toronto, Ontario, in Canada, from direct solar irradiances of the UV-MFRSR at 325-, 305-, 332-, and 311-nm channels (2-nm FWHM). The total uncertainty of ozone retrievals in this study is +/-2.0%. For Mauna Loa the mean ratios of the UV-MFRSR column ozone retrievals to the collocated Dobson and Brewer were 0.998 and 0.986 between May and September of 1999. The mean ratio of UV-MFRSR retrievals to the collocated Brewer retrievals was 1.012 in Toronto between April and August of 1999, and the mean ratio of retrievals of the UV-MFRSR to the collocated Brewer was 0.988 in Regina between June and September of 1999. Total vertical column ozone values for solar zenith angles of >70 degrees were not considered, because of the signal-to-noise ratio and the angular response of the instruments, and were not used in the evaluation. The advantages of total vertical column ozone retrieval using UV-MFRSR include relatively low cost, computer-controlled operation, automated calibration stability checks, and minimal maintenance. It allows for the real-time measurement of total vertical column ozone. The UV-MFRSR is being used at 28 sites across the United States and 2 sites in Canada that form the U.S. Department of Agriculture UV-B Radiation Monitoring and Research Program. This constitutes a unique network of total vertical colunm ozone measurement.
Cerebrovascular Reactivity in Migraine During Headache-Free Intervals

Alterations of intracranial vessel tone have been implicated in the pathophysiology of migraine. The cerebrovascular reactivity was measured by means of transcranial Doppler in 60 migraine patients with (n = 30) or without aura (n = 30) during the headache-free interval and in 30 healthy controls. The vasomotor response was evaluated during hypercapnia induced by inhalation of a mixture of CO2 5% and O2 95% and during hypocapnia obtained after voluntary hyperventilation. To improve the power of the study in detecting possible abnormalities of cerebrovascular reactivity, two different measures were performed at 1 week intervals in migraine patients and controls. Reactivity index values during CO2 inhalation were significantly different (p=0.01) among the three groups during the first and second measurements; in particular, lower values were found in patients suffering from migraine without aura with respect to controls (p<0.05, Scheffe's test). Values of reactivity index obtained following induction of hypocapnia did not differ between migraine patients and controls (all p values >0.05). Our data suggest a reduced vasodilatory response to hypercapnia of cerebral arterioles in patients suffering from migraine without aura with respect to controls that might be related to baseline arteriolar vasodilation.
The Impact of Simplifications on the Performance of a Finite Element Model of a Macaca fascicularis Cranium

In recent years finite element analysis (FEA) has emerged as a useful tool for the analysis of skeletal form‐function relationships. While this approach has obvious appeal for the study of fossil specimens, such material is often fragmentary with disrupted internal architecture and can contain matrix that leads to errors in accurate segmentation. Here we examine the effects of varying the detail of segmentation and material properties of teeth on the performance of a finite element model of a Macaca fascicularis cranium within a comparative functional framework. Cranial deformations were compared using strain maps to assess differences in strain contours and Procrustes size and shape analyses, from geometric morphometrics, were employed to compare large scale deformations. We show that a macaque model subjected to biting can be made solid, and teeth altered in material properties, with minimal impact on large scale modes of deformation. The models clustered tightly by bite point rather than by modeling simplification approach, and fell out as being distinct from another species. However localized fluctuations in predicted strain magnitudes were recorded with different modeling approaches, particularly over the alveolar region. This study indicates that, while any model simplification should be undertaken with care and attention to its effects, future applications of FEA to fossils with unknown internal architecture may produce reliable results with regard to general modes of deformation, even when detail of internal bone architecture cannot be reliably modeled. Anat Rec, 298:107–121, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Infrequent Somatic Deletion of the 5' Region of the COL1A2 Gene in Oesophageal Squamous Cell Cancer Patients

Abstract Oesophageal squamous cell cancer is the leading cause of cancer death amongst African males in South Africa. DNA was isolated from normal and tumour biopsies of the oesophagi of 33 African patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus and was analysed with two dinucleotide repeat polymorphisms, a GT repeat sequence in the first intron, and a CA repeat in the promoter of the human α2(I) procollagen gene (COL1A2), using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Normal and tumour DNAs from each individual were compared to identify changes present in the tumour DNA, but absent in normal DNA. Twenty two cases were informative (heterozygous) for the promoter polymorphism and 24 cases were informative for the intronic polymorphism. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was seen in 2/22 (9.1%) for the promoter and 3/24 (12.5%) for the intronic polymorphism. These changes involved a total of three patients: two patients displayed the lost allele incorporating both the CA repeat and GT repeat loci; the third patient revealed LOH at the intronic polymorphism, but was non-informative (homozygous) for the promoter polymorphism. Deletions within the procollagen genes may represent an as yet unrecognised but rare event in the multistep process of carcinogenesis.
Impact of Bank-Specific and Macroeconomic Variables on Return : A Study on Islamic Banks in Bangladesh

Islamic banking has now become a proven model of banking business worldwide as it offers stable return from both the perspective of assets and capital of a commercial bank. Within a very short span of time, Islamic banks in Bangladesh depicted a commendable growth. This innovative banking mechanism is widely accepted from the bankers as well as customers' standpoint. This study analyzes the impact of some selected bank-specific and macroeconomic variables on the profitability of all the seven Islamic banks in Bangladesh with panel data from 2003 to 2014. The study findings conclude that some of the bank-specific and macroeconomic variables have a significant influence on the profitability of Islamic banks. JEL Classifications : C51, E02, M21, L25
HIV Coreceptor Tropism in Paired Plasma, Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell, and Cerebrospinal Fluid Isolates from Antiretroviral-Naïve Subjects

ABSTRACT A survey of HIV coreceptor usage in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and plasma samples from naïve seropositive patients was conducted. One hundred patients were enrolled in this study. Of the 100 patients, 36 had a primary or recent infection (P-RI), 31 had an early chronic infection (>350 CD4 cells) (ECI), and 33 had a late chronic infection (LCI). All 3 compartments were sampled in a subset of 33 participants, while the remaining 67 patients provided plasma samples and PBMCs only. Seventy-seven patients harbored the R5 virus in plasma samples and had a significantly higher median and percentage of CD4+ T cells than patients with X4 virus (437 and 281 cells/μl, respectively; P = 0.0086; 20.6% and 18.6%, respectively). The X4 strain was detected more frequently in patients with LCI than in patients with P-RI or ECI (39.3%, 19.4%, and 9.6%, respectively; P = 0.0063). PBMC and plasma tropism was concordant in 90 patients, and 73 had the R5 strain. Among patients with discordant results, 4 had the R5 virus in their plasma and the X4 virus in PBMCs; 6 showed the opposite profile. Plasma, PBMC, and CSF tropism determinations were concordant in 26/33 patients (21 patients had R5, and 5 had X4). The tropism was discordant in 5/33 patients, with the X4 virus in plasma and R5 in CSF; the HIV tropism in PBMCs was X4 in 3 patients. The remaining 2/33 patients had the R5 virus in plasma and PBMCs and the X4 virus in CSF; one of these patients had a P-RI. The discordant tropism in CSF and blood may have implications for chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 5 (CCR5) antagonist use in patients with limited response to antiretroviral therapy (ART) or in responding patients evaluated for simplification of treatment.
Conversion Technology for the Separation of Maternal and Paternal Copies of Any Autosomal Chromosome in Somatic Cell Hybrids

Conversion Technology (CT) is a streamlined version of somatic cell hybrid preparation that was developed to be amenable for use as a mutation detection method and as a diagnostic tool for individual patients. It is also a powerful research tool. There are two broad categories of potential applications for CT: research applications in gene mapping and identification, and clinical applications in the detection of disease‐causing mutations in individual patients. CT may emerge as the gold standard for both mutation detection and haplotyping. It will likely prove valuable in mutation detection due to its ability to detect mutations that are not amenable to detection by sequencing (e.g., deep intron or promoter mutations). It will likely prove valuable in gene identification projects because genotyping of haploid chromosomes yields unequivocal haplotypes. Curr. Protoc. Hum. Genet. 55:3.6. 1‐3.6. 38. © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Influence of “GERD” Label on Parents’ Decision to Medicate Infants

BACKGROUND: The factors that drive overtreatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are not well understood, but it has been proposed that the use of the “GERD” disease label could perpetuate use of medication in otherwise healthy infants. METHODS: To determine if use of the disease label GERD influences parents’ perceived need to medicate an infant, we surveyed parents in a general pediatric clinic. Parents were given a hypothetical clinical scenario describing an infant who cries and spits up excessively but is otherwise healthy. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, parents were randomized to receive a scenario in which the doctor either gave a diagnosis of GERD or did not provide a disease label; additionally, half of parents were told that existing medications are probably ineffective, whereas the rest were not given any effectiveness information. We measured parent interest in medication, perception of illness severity, and appreciation of medication offer. RESULTS: Parents who received a GERD diagnosis were interested in medicating their infant, even when they were told that the medications are likely ineffective. However, parents not given a disease label were interested in medication only when medication effectiveness was not discussed (and hence likely assumed). CONCLUSIONS: Labeling an otherwise healthy infant as having a “disease” increased parents’ interest in medicating their infant when they were told that medications are ineffective. These findings suggest that use of disease labels may promote overtreatment by causing people to believe that ineffective medications are both useful and necessary.
Children's Use of PCA Following Spinal Fusion

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of patient‐controlled analgesia (PCA) in relieving postoperative pain for children and adolescents following spinal fusion. Design/Sample: A one‐group, descriptive design was used with a convenience sample of 93 children (ages 8 to 21 years) who had undergone spinal fusion over a 2‐year period. Methods: All of the patients were using PCA postoperatively with morphine sulfate, the most common opioid analgesic prescribed for use in the infusion pump. Data were collected for the first 4 postoperative days on four outcome variables; use of PCA, self‐report of pain, observed pain‐related behaviors, and satisfaction with PCA. Findings: Despite aggressive pain management, findings showed that neither children's pain nor their analgesic use diminished significantly over time. Children continued to report moderate‐to‐severe pain over the 4‐day measurement period. Likewise, children reported their satisfaction with PCA for pain relieve as “fair” to “good. ” Conclusion: The use of high technology and aggressive pharmacologic treatment alone may not be adequate for managing severe pain following spinal fusion. As proposed by the Gate Control Theory, pain stimuli produce not only physiologic, but also psychologic and emotional responses. Relief for severe pain, therefore, may require multidimensional therapies that include nonpharmacologic approaches together with precise titration of available pharmacologic agents.
[Subjective family image in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in adolescence: a controlled study].

OBJECTIVES The family environments of patients with eating disorders have been studied extensively in recent decades. The "Subjective Family Image Test" is an instrument developed especially to measure differential perceptions by family members. Assessments of subjective family image in families of adolescents by means of this test have been carried out in only a few samples. METHODS We aimed first to investigate subjective perceptions by adolescents of their family relations in a larger clinical sample of female adolescents (n = 118) suffering from anorexia nervosa of either subtype or from bulimia nervosa and to compare these perceptions with those of healthy controls (n = 96). Second we investigated intra-familial differences in perception. RESULTS The main findings were that bulimia nervosa patients perceived lower individual autonomy and lower emotional connectedness than all other groups, the adolescents with bulimia perceived significantly lower autonomy and emotional connectedness within the family than their fathers, and the restrictive anorexia nervosa patients perceived higher connectedness than their fathers. The relevance of these findings for understanding family dynamics are discussed.