Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potentially Inappropriate Prescriptions in Ambulatory Elderly Patients Living in Rural Areas of Romania Using STOPP/START (Version 2) Criteria

Background: Rational use of medications and monitoring of prescriptions in elderly patients is important to decrease the number and duration of hospitalizations, emergency medical consultations, mortality, as well as medical costs. Purpose: To identify potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and potential prescription omissions (PPOs), and determine their prevalence based on the Screening Tool of Older Persons ’ potentially inappropriate Prescriptions (STOPP) v2 criteria and Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment (START) v2 criteria for patients aged >65 years. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two rural counties in Romania based on electronic prescriptions for chronic conditions (EPCCs) issued from 30 days to 90 days by a specialist or general practitioner. Collected EPCCs were evaluated by an interdisciplinary team of specialists based on 26 STOPP v2 criteria and 10 START v2 criteria. Results: PIM prevalence was 25.80% and PPO prevalence was 41.72% for 646 EPCCs. The mean age of patients was 75 years and the mean number of drugs per EPCC was four. The most frequently identi ﬁ ed PIMs were treatment duration (6.65%), theophylline administration (5.72%), drug indication (4.64%), cyclo-oxygenase-2 non-steroidal anti-in ﬂ ammatory drugs (1.39%), and zopiclone prescription (0.77%). Statins (24.76%), beta-blockers (8.04%), and beta-2 agonist/antimuscarinic bronchodilators (5.88%) were the most frequently identi-ﬁ ed PPOs. Conclusion: PPOs were more prevalent than PIMs for elderly populations living in the two rural counties in Romania we studied. Health practitioners (family physicians, specialists, and pharmacists) should focus on prophylactic and curative considerations when prescribing agents to decrease the morbidity and mortality of elderly rural Romanian patients.
CIA_A_233270 407..417

Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; Department of Medical Semiotics, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; Discipline of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; Clinical Pharmacy Research Group, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain UCLouvain, Bruxelles, Belgium; Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; Department of Statistics and Biomedical Informatics, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; Department of Cardiology VI, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; Cardiovascular Diseases Institute, Timisoara, Romania
Streamflow modeling of a large arid catchment using semi-distributed hydrological model and modular neural network

Calibration and validation of hydrological models for simulating stream flow can usually be a promising procedure for future sustainable watershed development. Therefore, development of hydrological models with attributed capabilities is vital to explore the models. Recently, arid climate regions are facing critical water resource problems due to elevated water scarcity. The main objective of this research is to compare the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), a knowledge driven by semi-distributed hydrological model, with the Modular Neural Network (MNN), a data driven technique, in predicting the daily flow in arid and large scale. Development of SWAT required digital elevation map, hydro-meteorological data, land use map, and soil maps; whilst, the MNN only needed hydro-meteorological data. For both models, a sensitivity analysis that included both calibration and validation with individual uncertainty evaluation methods was carried out. Generally, results for relative errors such as Nash-Sutcliffe, coefficient of determination and percent of bias favored the SWAT for the validation period. Not only that, the absolute error criteria such as root mean square error, mean square error and mean relative error obtained were close to zero for the SWAT as well within the same period. The mean absolute error for both models was similar during the validation period. Results of the uncertainty evaluation were in satisfactory range. Both models had given similar trend for flow prediction during the validation period. Results of box plot, according to 50% (median) of daily flow, showed that both models had respectively overestimated (MNN) and underestimated (SWAT) the daily flow during validation period. Evaluation on runoff volume for each year showed that both models had a one-year underestimation and three-year overestimation in the same period. However, the overestimation of MNN was more obvious. As a conclusion, this study showed that both models have promising prediction performance for daily flow in a large scale watershed with arid climate
Short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing ( SUNCT ) or cranial autonomic features ( SUNA ) — a prospective clinical study of SUNCT and SUNA

Short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT) and short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with cranial autonomic features (SUNA) are described, although SUNA is rarely reported. The phenotype of SUNCT and SUNAwas characterized from a large series of patients (43 SUNCT, 9 SUNA). Three attack types were identified: stabs, groups of stabs and saw-tooth attacks. Themean duration of stabs was 58 s (1–600 s); stab groups, 396 s (10–1200 s); and saw-tooth, 1160 s (5– 12 000s). The attack frequency was a mean of 59 attacks/day (2–600), and this depended largely on the type of attack. The pain was orbital, supraorbital or temporal in 38 (88%) SUNCT and 7 (78%) SUNA, and also occurred in the retro-orbital region, side, top, back of head, second and third trigeminal divisions, teeth, neck and ear. All SUNCTpatients had conjunctival injection and tearing. Two SUNApatients had conjunctival injection, four had tearing, but none had both. Other cranial autonomic symptoms included nasal blockage, rhinorrhoea, eyelid oedema, facial sweating/flushing and ear flushing. Cutaneous stimuli triggered attacks in 74% of SUNCT but only in 22% of SUNA patients. The majority (95% SUNCT and 89% SUNA) had no refractory period between attacks. For SUNCT 58% and for SUNA 56% of patients were agitated with the attacks.We propose a new set of diagnostic criteria for these syndromes to better encompass the clinical presentations and which include a wider range of attack length, wider trigeminal pain distribution, cutaneous triggering and lack of refractory period.
Progranulin modulates cholangiocarcinoma cell proliferation, apoptosis, and motility via the Pi3K/pakt pathway

: Progranulin (PGRN) is a growth factor normally expressed in rapidly cycling epithelial cells for growth, differentiation, and motility. Several studies have shown the association of PGRN overexpression with the progression of numerous malignancies, including cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). However, the underlying mechanisms on how PGRN modulates CCA cell proliferation and motility is not clear. In this study, we investigated the prognostic significance of PGRN expression in human CCA tissue and the mechanisms of PGRN modu-lation of CCA cell proliferation and motility. We found that CCA tissues with high PGRN expression were correlated with poor prognosis and likelihood of metastasis. PGRN knockdown KKU-100 and KKU-213 cells demonstrated a reduced rate of proliferation and colony formation and decreased levels of phosphatidyl inositol-3-kinase (PI3K) and phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) proteins. Accumulation of cells at the G1 phase was observed and was accompanied by a reduction of cyclin D1 and CDK4 protein levels. Knockdown cells also induced apoptosis by increasing the Bax-to-Bcl-2 ratio. Increased cell apoptosis was confirmed by annexin V-FITC/PI staining. Moreover, suppression of PGRN reduced CCA cell migration and invasion in vitro. Investigating the biomarkers in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) revealed a decrease in the expression of vimentin, snail, and metalloproteinase-9. In conclusion, our findings imply that PGRN modulates cell proliferation by dysregulating the G1 phase, inhibit-ing apoptosis, and that it plays a role in the EMT affecting CCA cell motility, possibly via the PI3K/pAkt pathway.
Multicentre randomised controlled trial comparing standard and high resolution optical technologies in colorectal cancer screening

Background and objectives The UK bowel cancer screening programme (BCSP) has been established for the early detection of colorectal cancer offering colonoscopy to patients screened positive by faecal occult blood tests. In this multisite, prospective, randomised controlled trial, we aimed to compare the performance of Standard Definition Olympus Lucera (SD-OL) with Scope Guide and the High Definition Pentax HiLine (HD-PHL). Patients and methods Subjects undergoing a colonoscopy as part of the UK National BCSP at four UK sites were randomised to an endoscopy list run using either SD-OL or HD-PHL. Primary endpoints were polyp and adenoma detection rate (PDR and ADR, respectively) as well as polyp size, morphology and histology characteristics. Results 262 subjects (168 males, mean age 66.3±4.3 years) were colonoscoped (133 patients with HD-PHL while 129 with SD-OL). PDR and ADR were comparable within the two optical systems. The HD-PHL group resulted in a PDR 55.6% and ADR 43.6%; the SD-OL group had PDR 56.6% and ADR 45.7%. HD-PHL was significantly superior to SD-OL in detection of flat adenomas (18.6% vs 5.2%, p<0.001), but not detection of pedunculated or sessile polyps. Patient comfort, use of sedation and endoscopist perception of procedural difficulty resulted similar despite the use of Scope Guide with SD-OL. Conclusion PDR and ADR were not significantly different between devices. The high-resolution colonoscopy system HD-PHL may improve polyp detection as compared with standard resolution technology in detecting flat adenomas. This advantage may have clinically significant implications for missed lesion rates and post-colonoscopy interval colorectal cancer rates.
First in-human radiation dosimetry of the gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) receptor antagonist

Gastrin-releasing peptide receptor antagonists have promise in theranostics of several highly incident tumours, including prostate and breast. This study presents the first human dosimetry of 68Ga-NODAGA-MJ9 in the first five consecutive patients with recurrent prostate cancer included in a dual-tracer positron emission tomography (PET) protocol. Five male patients with biochemical relapse of prostate adenocarcinoma underwent four whole-body time-of-flight PET/CT scans within 2 h after tracer injection. To be used as input in OLINDA/EXM 2.0, time-integrated activity coefficients were derived from manually drawn regions of interest over the following body regions: brain, thyroid, lungs, heart, liver, gallbladder, spleen, stomach, kidneys, adrenals, red marrow, pancreas, intestines, urinary bladder and whole body. Organ absorbed doses and effective dose (ED) were calculated with OLINDA/EXM 2.0 using the NURBS voxelized phantoms adjusted to the ICRP-89 organ masses and ICRP103 tissue-weighting factors. Additional absorbed dose estimations were performed with OLINDA/EXM 1.1 to be comparable with similar previous [. ] GNESIN, Silvano, et al. First in-human radiation dosimetry of the gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) receptor antagonist 68Ga-NODAGA-MJ9. EJNMMI Research, 2018, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 108 DOI : 10.1186/s13550-018-0462-9
The YKl-40 protein is a potential biomarker for COPD: a meta-analysis and systematic review

Background: Many studies have found that YKL-40 may play an important pathogenic role in COPD. However, the results of these studies were inconsistent. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the role of YKL-40 in COPD. Methods: We performed a systematic literature search in many database and commercial internet search engines to identify studies involving the role of YKL-40 in patients with COPD. The standardized mean difference (SMD) and Fisher’s Z -value with its 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to investigate the effect sizes. Results: A total of 15 eligible articles including 16 case–control/cohort groups were included in the meta-analysis. The results indicated that the serum YKL-40 levels in patients with COPD were significantly higher than those in healthy controls (SMD = 1.58, 95% CI = 0.68–2.49, P = 0.001), and it was correlated with lung function (pooled r =- 0.32; Z =- 0.33; P , 0.001). The results of subgroup analysis found that the serum YKL-40 levels were statistically different between the exacerbation group and the stable group in patients with COPD (SMD = 1.55, 95% CI = 0.81–2.30, P , 0.001). Moreover, the results indicated that the sputum YKL-40 levels in patients with COPD were also significantly higher than those in healthy controls (SMD = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.10–1.30, P = 0.022). Conclusion: The current study suggests that YKL-40 may be implicated in bronchial inflammation and remodeling in COPD and may be considered as a useful biomarker for COPD diagnosis and monitoring.
International Strategic Alliances

Abstract This paper reports the findings of an empirical investigation of strategic alliance agreements between UK firms and their European, Japanese and US partners. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the international strategic alliance activity of UK firms and ascertain the objectives and motives of international strategic alliances. In addition, the perceived performance of the strategic alliance is considered together with the perceived level of satisfaction of a range of alliance activities. The findings should prove to be a useful guideline for researchers and practitioners engaged in understanding international strategic alliances. The analysis should allow managers to examine the important issues in the formation of international strategic alliances and allow them to understand the assessment of performance and satisfaction of the alliances formed. Key Results: The findings have shown a definite pattern in UK international strategic alliance activity. The results of the study indicate that the majority of UK firms engage in international partnerships for marketing-related activities and are essentially driven by the financial cost and risk of entering a foreign market; access to overseas market and improving market share. The findings have also indicated that the majority of UK managers are satisfied with the overall performance of the international strategic alliance.
Progress Toward Polio Eradication — Worldwide, 2013–2014

In 1988, the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) resolved to interrupt wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission worldwide, and in 2012, the World Health Assembly declared the completion of global polio eradication a programmatic emergency for public health. By 2013, the annual number of WPV cases had decreased by >99% since 1988, and only three countries remained that had never interrupted WPV transmission: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. This report summarizes global progress toward polio eradication during 2013-2014 and updates previous reports. In 2013, a total of 416 WPV cases were reported globally from eight countries, an 86% increase from the 223 WPV cases reported from five countries in 2012. This upsurge in 2013 was caused by a 60% increase in WPV cases detected in Pakistan, and by outbreaks in five previously polio-free countries resulting from international spread of WPV. In 2014, as of May 20, a total of 82 WPV cases had been reported worldwide, compared with 34 cases during the same period in 2013. Polio cases caused by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) were detected in eight countries in 2013 and in two countries so far in 2014. To achieve polio eradication in the near future, further efforts are needed to 1) address health worker safety concerns in areas of armed conflict in priority countries, 2) to prevent further spread of WPV and new outbreaks after importation into polio-free countries, and 3) to strengthen surveillance globally. Based on the international spread of WPV to date in 2014, the WHO Director General has issued temporary recommendations to reduce further international exportation of WPV through vaccination of persons traveling from currently polio-affected countries.
Supplementary Results : Object Counting and Instance Segmentation with Image-level Supervision

Fig. 1 shows that the improvement obtained using exact count annotations for the entire range (IC, t̃ = ∞) is marginal compared to the proposed image-level lower-count (ILC) supervision (t̃ = 5). This is likely due to the joint optimization of the spatial and MSE loss terms within the subitizing range, which enables the density branch to predict accurate counts even beyond the subitizing range. In addition, the ranking loss helps to improve the model performance by penalizing undercounting beyond the subitizing range. Our approach provides an optimum balance between annotation cost and counting performance and hence can be easily extended to new datasets. Fig. 1 also shows that a single-branch architecture using an MSE loss for all counts, corresponding to glancing [2], leads to inferior results (see Tab. 1 in the main paper).
La tectonique récente de la Provence occidentale microtectonique, caractéristiques dynamiques et cinématiques : méthodologie de zonation tectonique et relations avec la séismicité

Dans le cadre de l'installation d'un reseau de surveillance sismique en Provence Occidentale, notre etude consiste dans un premier temps : - a localiser, par differentes methodologies d'approche de la deformation recente, les accidents tectoniques susceptibles d'etre sismiquement actifs, - a caracteriser les mecanismes des deformations tectoniques affectant cette region ainsi que leur repartition depuis environ 10 millions d'annees, - a reconstituer le(s) champ(s) de contraintes a l'origine de ces deformations, en vue d'etablir une zonation tectonique coherente a l'echelle de la region etudiee. Dans un deuxieme temps, nous definissons les relations existantes entre notre zonation tectonique, les accidents majeurs et la sismicite historique et instrumentale afin d'obtenir les caracteres generaux permettant un decoupage de la Provence en differents domaines sismotectoniques.
A multiwavelength view of a classical T Tauri star CV Cha

Using long-term optical, ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray data, we present a study of a classical T Tauri star CV Cha. The V -band light curve obtained from the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) shows short as well as long-term variability. The short-term variability could be due to rotational modulation of CV Cha. We derive the rotational period of 3.714 ± 0.001 d for CV Cha. UV light curves obtained from Swift also show the variations. X-ray light curves from XMM-Newton and Swift do not show any significant short as well as long-term variability. However, the light curve from Chandra appears to be variable, which could be due to the emergence of flaring activities. X-ray spectra from all observations are explained well by the single temperature plasma of 0.95 keV with X-ray luminosity of 1030.4 erg s−1 in the 0.5–7.5 keV energy band. It appears that variability in optical and UV bands could be due to the presence of both hot and cool spots on the surface, while X-ray emission is dominated by magnetic processes.
encorafenib/binimetinib for the treatment of BRAF-mutant advanced, unresectable, or metastatic melanoma: design, development, and potential place in therapy

: Major advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of melanoma have led to a new era of melanoma treatment with targeted therapy and immunotherapies. Since 2011, four new classes of medications with unique mechanisms of action have been approved, which allow melanoma to be treated at many different stages in its development. These include the checkpoint inhibitors anti-PD1/PDL-1 and anti-CTLA4, as well as BRAF inhibitors and MEK inhibitors. The latter two were developed to directly inhibit key components in the MAP kinase pathway with significant breakthrough in the treatment of metastatic and unresectable melanoma. In this review, we discuss the development of targeted therapy of melanoma up to the latest agents encorafenib and binimetinib, including mechanisms of action, adverse effects, and the latest data on treatment response. Current ongoing trials will continue to elucidate these medications and their ultimate impact on melanoma therapy.
Health Care, Family, and Community Factors Associated with Mental, Behavioral, and Developmental Disorders in Early Childhood — United States, 2011–2012

Purpose To identify sociodemographic, healthcare, family, and community factors associated with mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders (MBDDs) in early childhood within a nationally representative U.S. sample. Methods As part of the National Survey of Children’s Health, parents of 35,121 children aged 2-8 years reported whether a health care provider ever told them their child had any of the following MBDDs: …
A Comprehensive Safety Trial of Chimeric Antibody 14.18 With GM-CSF, IL-2, and Isotretinoin in High-Risk Neuroblastoma Patients Following Therapy:

were 67.6 ± 4.8% and 79.1 ± 4.2%, respectively. AR during course 1 was associated with elevated serum levels of IL-1Ra and IFN γ , while severe hypotension during this course was associated with low IL5 and nitrate. Higher pretreatment CXCL9 level was associated with poorer event-free survival (EFS). Conclusion: This study has confirmed the significant, but manageable treatment-related toxicities of this immunotherapy and identified possible cytokine biomarkers associated with select toxicities and outcome. EFS and OS appear similar to that previously reported on ANBL0032.
Chronic dialysis patients with infectious spondylodiscitis have poorer outcomes than non-dialysis populations

Purpose: Infectious spondylodiscitis is a serious disease that can lead to permanent neurological deficit. Because there were only a few case reports or series featuring infectious spondylodiscitis in chronic dialysis patients, we investigated the epidemiology and outcome in the chronic dialysis patients versus general population. Materials and methods: We retrospectively identified chronic dialysis patients admitted for infectious spondylodiscitis between January 2002 and December 2015. A total of 105 chronic dialysis patients were included, and we performed a 1:2 case–control match on propensity score in non-dialysis patients with infectious spondylodiscitis. The demographic features, clinical manifestation, infection focus, and disease outcome were recorded. Results: A total of 302 patients entered the final analysis. Chronic dialysis patients less frequently had fever (34.3%), and in the majority, bacterial entry was through dialysis vascular access (30.5%). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) comprised the majority of causative pathogen. The chronic dialysis group had longer hospital stay, higher in-hospital mortality, and higher 1-year mortality. The odds ratio of in-hospital mortality was 2.20 compared with the non-dialysis group. Conclusions: The study highlighted poorer outcome and high frequency of resistant Staphylococcus of infectious spondylodiscitis in chronic dialysis patients. Therefore, high vigi-lance, prompt recognition, and empiric coverage of MRSA will be important in the management of infectious spondylodiscitis in chronic dialysis patients.