Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of circulating tumor cells: a prognostic marker in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck?

In 2010, according to the NCI, 49,260 new cases of oral cavity, pharyngeal, and laryngeal cancer were estimated to occur in the United States; approximately 11,480 deaths were attributed to these cases. More than 95% of these cases are squamous cell carcinomas (1, 2). For all stages combined, the 5-year survival rate is approximately 50% (3), and this rate has not changed significantly in the last several decades. Treatment failure in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) can include local recurrence, regional recurrence (cervical lymph nodes), distant metastasis, or development of a second primary cancer. There is certainly a need for a reliable blood test to determine prognosis in SCCHN patients, specifically those patients who may be at increased risk of locoregional recurrence or distant metastasis.
Epidemiological differences between colon cancer and rectum cancer.

Clinical and epidemiological variation was seen between the colon cancer (CC) and rectum cancer (RC). So, there is not so much data available about the epidemiological and clinicopathological differences and prognostic factors regarding to CC and CR in Iran, we aimed to perform this study. Methods: All cases of CC and RC referred to oncology and gastroenterology wards of Taleghani General Hospital, Teheran, Iran between 2002 and 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. The research group were reviewed all medical records in the study period for collecting the required data. All patients under study were followed up until end day of 2008 (closed day) from their diagnosis. Results: There are 856 cases of CC and 427 cases of RC. Mean survival time of CC cases was relatively higher than RC cases (P <0.05). Regarding to the age at diagnosis, about 42% of CC and 42.6% of RC patients was diagnosed less than 50 years of age. Positive family history of any cancer was relatively higher in CC (40.0%) patients than RC (31.0%) patients (P<0.05). significant difference was seen between CC and RC regarding to depth of tumor invasion, pathologic stage and type of first treatment. RC patient were diagnosed in more advanced pathologic stages. Regarding to histology type of tumor 75.0% of CC cases and 79.4% of RC cases was adenocarcinoma. Abdominal pain (74.4%) and blood per rectum (89.7%) were the most prevalent symptoms mentioned by patients for CC and RC, respectively. Distant metastasis, lymph node metastasis, lower BMI and poor grading of tumor was related to increased risk of death due to CC. Regarding to RC, only pathologic stage was determine as prognostic factor. Conclusion: Results of this study emphasis that RC has a poorer prognosis comparing to CC. Up to 42 percent of patients with CC and RC are lower than 50 years of age. Patterns of CC versus RC indicate major variations in demographic and clinicopathologic characteristics that suggest possible differences in etiology and pathogenesis. So we suggest that for the analysis of cancer data, CC and RC should be investigated as separate cancers and not to be as colorectal cancer. Abdominal pain and blood per rectum should be emphasis for detection of CC and RC, respectively.
Ultrasound of muscle

Ultrasound examination of muscle is ideally performed with high-frequency linear array transducers, although low frequency probes may be required for deep-seated abnormalities in large individuals.Extended field of view imaging is useful to delineate extensive muscle abnormalities and helps provide clear representation of spatial relationships.Ultrasound grading of muscle injury can be performed, and follow-up studies can assess repair of muscle tissue and identify complications of the healing process.Although the appearances of intramuscular masses may be non-specific in many cases, ultrasound may demonstrate characteristics that help refine the differential diagnosis. Some features such as vascularity and intralesional calcification may be more easily appreciated on ultrasound than MRI.
Effects of Nonnursing Assistance on Home Visit Nurses’ Time Spent In Japan: One Group Repeated Pretest-Posttest Trial

To determine means of improving the efficiency of home nursing services, we conducted an experimental pretest-posttest study to compare the time spent by home visiting nurses (HVNs) on providing care with or without assistance. HVNs’ job-related satisfaction levels were also compared. Forty-four clients in six visiting nursing offices in Fukuoka prefecture were selected for this study, which was conducted between July 2009 and January 2010. With assistance, HVNs’ total care time and time spent performing trivial tasks decreased and time spent on communicating or teaching increased. Furthermore, HVNs were more satisfied with providing care than with their usual visits. We conclude that introduction of a skill mix might improve home visiting nursing service efficiency through shortening the HVNs’ length of stay at a client’s home.
The radial artery as a conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting

Over the past five years several groups have promoted the use of the radial artery as the second conduit of choice for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), after the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) and in preference to the saphenous vein. The attractions of the radial artery to the surgeon are immediate and obvious: it is a versatile conduit that can be harvested easily and safely, it has handling characteristics superior to those of other arterial grafts, and it reaches comfortably any coronary target.1 For the patient it offers the long term prospect of superior patency compared to vein grafts2 3 and the immediate benefit of avoiding the frequently underestimated morbidity of leg wounds.4 Ten years after CABG, 90% of LIMA grafts are patent and disease free while 75% of vein grafts are occluded or severely stenosed.5 As well as establishing the LIMA as the conduit of first choice for CABG this has promoted the use of other arterial conduits including the right IMA, the gastroepiploic, and the inferior epigastric artery. Despite evidence of clinical and survival benefits of using more than one arterial graft5 the absence of any large randomised trials with long term follow up, allied to the increased technical demands of using multiple arterial grafts, has precluded widespread use. A similar position existed over the use of a single IMA graft before the seminal article from the Cleveland clinic in 1986,6 but the user friendliness of the radial artery may be changing this perspective. Carpentier and colleagues first proposed the use of the radial artery for CABG in 1973,7 but within a few years reports of spasm and occlusion led to its abandonment. In 1989, and inspired by several angiographically patent radial artery grafts up to 18 years …
Detectability of Renal Arteries in Living Renal Donors Using Multi-Detector CT: Comparison among Axial and Three-Dimensional Reconstruction Images

Purpose: The purpose was to compare the effectiveness of MDCT reconstruction methods that improve detectability for detecting the renal arteries in patients undergoing laparoscopic nephrectomy irrespective of the ability of the radiologist. Methods: 128 patients with left nephrectomy and either one or multiple renal arteries were enrolled. Radiologists with varying levels of expertise (5 board-certified and 3 non-certified) interpreted all MDCT images, including axial, VR and MIP images, independently and determined the numbers of renal arteries. The interpretation times, sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy rates were analyzed. A receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to compare the results from the various reconstruction methods. Results: At surgery, there were 156 arteries: 101 donors had one renal artery and 27 had multiple arteries. The interpretation time for board-certified radiologists was shorter than that for non-certified radiologists, and the interpretation time using MIP images was significantly shorter than that of using the other reconstruction methods. The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy on axial images were significantly higher than those on other images. The average Az value for detection of the numbers of renal arteries using axial images was higher than that of using other images. Conclusion: MDCT is helpful in reviewing the numbers of donated renal arteries for radiologists with different levels of expertise, and different types of reconstructions.
Papillary lesions of indolent course: reducing the overdiagnosis of indolent papillary thyroid cancer and unnecessary treatment.

1 ISSN 1479-6694 10.2217/FON.13. 240 © 2014 Future Medicine Ltd Future Oncol. (2014) 10(1), 1–4 Peter, 43 years of age, presents with an acute exacerbation of chronic neck pain. Peter is on biologicals to treat his inflammatory bowel disease, which triggers an aggressive investigation, including an MRI. This examination was negative except for a 1.5-cm thyroid nodule. A fine-needle biopsy revealed papillary thyroid cancer. After total thyroidectomy that removed the cancer completely, Peter received one dose of radioactive iodine and a prescription for daily levothyroxine to replace his thyroid hormone. Peter is now a cancer survivor. Worldwide, there is an epidemic of thyroid cancer without a corresponding increase in thyroid cancer deaths [1]. The majority of these cancers are small papillary cancers, the most indolent type of thyroid cancer [2], with a mortality of less than 1% after 20 years of postsurgical follow-up [3]. No new risk factors, but one, can completely explain the surge of these lesions: the exponential increase in the use of diagnostic imaging. Similar to Peter, many of us have cancerous lesions in our thyroid glands. The
Is the International Prognostic Index for aggressive lymphomas useful for low-grade lymphoma patients? Applicability to stage 111-IV patients

Background: The International Prognostic Index (IPI) is widely used to predict outcome of patients with aggressive lymphomas. Our goal was to assess the prognostic value of this index for low-grade lymphoma. Patients and methods: One hundred eighty-two patients with disseminated (stage III or IV) low-grade lymphoma were enrolled in a prospective multicenter trial. According to the initial features, treatment either was started immediately or was deferred until indicated by disease progression. Patients received the same polychemotherapy regimen, given monthly for six cycles. They were assigned to one of four risk groups according to the number of presenting risk factors: low-risk (0 or 1), low-intermediate-risk (2). high-intermediate-risk (3), high-risk groups (4). Results: Survival curves (Kaplan-Meier method) demonstrated a high significant difference for the four groups (logrank : P < 0.0001). Median survival for the low-risk group has yet to be reached, while that for the three other groups are, respectively, 65, 34, and 12 months. Conclusions: In this study, the IPI has been found to be an important prognostic tool in low-grade lymphoma and may be used in the selection of appropriate therapeutic approaches for individual patients.
Effect of Contact Angle on Steam Dropwise Condensation: A Simulation Approach

Dropwise condensation process on surface of a vertical polytetrafluouroethylene (PTFE) plate at atmospheric pressure was simulated. Comparison of simulated data with experimental and theoretical results indicates that performed simulation results confirm experimental data, although they deviated from existing proposed correlations. For calculation of heat transfer coefficient and droplets size distribution, simulation of condensation process over vertical copper and PTFE surfaces at atmospheric pressure was performed. By considering the effect of contact angle on heat transfer resistances of droplets, the gained data were optimized in order to evaluate droplets size distribution coefficient. This distribution coefficient was used in a new correlation for prediction of heat transfer coefficient for dropwise condensation process. Comparison of experimental results with the correlation shows a good agreement, 11% relative error.
Noninitiation or Withdrawal of Intensive Care for High-Risk Newborns

Advances in medical technology have led to dilemmas in initiation and withdrawal of intensive care of newborn infants with a very poor prognosis. Physicians and parents together must make difficult decisions guided by their understanding of the child's best interest. The foundation for these decisions consists of several key elements: (1) direct and open communication between the health care team and the parents of the child with regard to the medical status, prognosis, and treatment options; (2) inclusion of the parents as active participants in the decision process; (3) continuation of comfort care even when intensive care is not being provided; and (4) treatment decisions that are guided primarily by the best interest of the child.
Comparative Study on Reference Values for Blood Constituents during Pregnancy in Buffaloes ( Bubalus bubalis )

Reference values for buffaloes especially those at pregnancy are not yet established. The aim of this study was to establish serum biochemical and hematological reference values for water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) during pregnancy. In total 409 pregnant buffaloes were examined at buffaloes' farms that belong to Assiut Governorate at the mid of Egypt. Out of them, 107 buffaloes did not meet the selection criteria and were excluded from the study. The remained 302 clinically healthy buffaloes were classified according to the stage of pregnancy into two groups: Group I; included buffaloes till 6 months of pregnancy (No.=146). Group II; included buffaloes after 6 months of pregnancy (No.=156). Three types of samples were collected; serum samples for biochemical analysis, whole blood samples for hematological analysis and fecal samples for parasitological examination. A total of 55 blood variables were measured during this study. The 95% reference intervals for each serum biochemical and hematological constituents were calculated by removing the upper and lower 2.5% of the interval to give the 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles. The present study established the reference intervals for the investigated biochemical and hematological parameters in blood of pregnant buffaloes. Results revealed that most of the measured blood constituents were differed significantly during the period before and after 6 months of pregnancy in buffaloes. In conclusion, the established reference values will be a useful guide for interpreting serum biochemical and hematologic data in pregnant buffaloes.
Prediction of first episode of clinical depression in patients newly admitted to a medical long‐term care facility: Findings from a prospective study

A cohort of 104 patients newly admitted to a medical long‐term care facility was studied over 1 year for evolution of depression. Seven variables that were associated with level of depression were used in discriminant function analyses. Results showed that the variables had about 90% accuracy in predicting depressed versus non‐depressed groups with good sensitivity and specificity. The variables measured: coping with admission; life satisfaction at admission; affective and non‐affective symptoms at admission; clinical health status after admission; friends in hospital after admission; and changes in affective symptoms after admission before the onset of depression.
Patient perception , preference and participation Verbal information about anesthesia before scheduled surgery – contents and patient satisfaction

Objective: The contents of information for patients before medical procedures are outlined by legislation and guidelines. The amount and form are less regulated. Our aim was to evaluate the contents of verbal information provided by anesthesiologists in a long-established preoperative clinic, and how satisfied patients are with it. Methods: A questionnaire based on legislation and the DISCERN quality criteria for information on treatment choices was sent to patients who recently had anesthesia for elective hysterectomy in our hospital (n = 372), and to the anesthesiologists involved (n = 24). Results: Preoperative information was regarded as sufficient by 82% of the patients and rated good by 65%. Information on the benefits of anesthesia, its risks, and effects on the quality of life was considered satisfactory by 74%, 49%, and 49%, respectively. Only 54% received enough information on lifestyle interventions to reduce their individual risks. Of the anesthesiologists, 33% had a policy to tell about risks
Baseline chromogranin A and its dynamics are prognostic markers in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

AIM This study assessed whether absolute chromogranin A (CgA) values at various stages of treatment have prognostic value in patients with pancreatic and midgut neuroendocrine tumors, subjected to peptide receptor radionuclide therapy with 90Y-[DOTA0, D-Phe1, Tyr3]-octreotate. PATIENTS & METHODS CgA was determined before peptide receptor radionuclide therapy, 6 weeks, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after the last dose of 90Y-[DOTA0, D-Phe1, Tyr3]-octreotate. The primary end point was overall survival. RESULTS Elevated baseline CgA concentrations and their relative increase within the first year of observation were unfavorable predictors of overall survival, but not progression. CONCLUSION Even a single baseline measurement of CgA can be useful in establishing prognosis in this group, if this parameter exceeds its upper normal limit more than tenfold.
Fractional Gradient Elasticity from Spatial Dispersion Law

Nonlocal elasticity models in continuum mechanics can be treated with two different approaches: the gradient elasticity models (weak nonlocality) and the integral nonlocal models (strong nonlocality). This paper focuses on the fractional generalization of gradient elasticity that allows us to describe a weak nonlocality of power-law type. We suggest a lattice model with spatial dispersion of power-law type as a microscopic model of fractional gradient elastic continuum. We demonstrate how the continuum limit transforms the equations for lattice with this spatial dispersion into the continuum equations with fractional Laplacians in Riesz's form. A weak nonlocality of power-law type in the nonlocal elasticity theory is derived from the fractional weak spatial dispersion in the lattice model. The continuum equations with derivatives of noninteger orders, which are obtained from the lattice model, can be considered as a fractional generalization of the gradient elasticity. These equations of fractional elasticity are solved for some special cases: subgradient elasticity and supergradient elasticity.
Patient Perception , Preference and Participation Determinants of patients ’ attitudes toward patient-centered care : A cross-sectional study in Greece

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate – for the first time in Greece – patients’ attitudes toward patient-centered care, by identifying the impact of socio-demographic factors, health condition, social support and religious beliefs. Methods: 454 Hospitalized patients were interviewed on the first day of their scheduled admission, answering demographic questions and the following questionnaires: Patient–Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS), Autonomy Preference Index (API), Short Form SF-12v2 Health Survey, God Locus of Health Control (GLHC) and Perceived Available Support (PAS). Results: Mean PPOS and API scores were: PPOS Sharing 3.4 (sd = 0.69), Caring 3.99 (sd = 0.76), API Information-Seeking 88.32 (sd = 9.35) and Decision-Making 51.19 (sd = 9.27). Higher desire for information was associated with younger age, more years of education, weaker spiritual faith in healing and worse subjective health status. Higher expectations for caring physicians were correlated with older age, more years of education, higher perceived social support and weaker spiritual faith in
Prevention of dog bites: Evaluation of a brief educational intervention program for preschool children

Dog bites are an underestimated societal problem. Victims suffer injuries, both physical and emotional, that sometimes end in death, and the economic cost to the community is high. The most frequent victims are children, manly of whom are Mien at home. Current interventions, primarily aimed at the control of dogs in public areas, appear unlikely to reduce the incidence of dog bites within this group. In this study, parents beliefs about their children's behavior around familiar and strange dogs were investigated using a questionnaire. The impact of a brief educational dog safety program on 192 kindergarten children (M = 4.68 years of age) was then evaluated. The questionnaire data revealed that many children engage in unsafe behaviors around dogs, and that parents are largely unaware of the dangers associated with such behaviors. The dog safety program resulted in a significant increase in the ability of children to identify high risk situations for up to 4 weeks, with the benefits being even greater in those children whose Parents were also given information regarding safe behaviors around dogs. Language: en
Recent Trends in Blood Glucose Control Studies

Diabetes mellitus is a disease of the endocrine system in which blood glucose levels are constantly above the normal range. Since insulin-dependent diabetic patients require insulin administration to maintain blood glucose levels within the normal range, automatic blood glucose control methods to reduce the burden of such open-loop insulin therapy have been studied. In this review, we first introduce some important mathematical models of glucoseinsulin metabolism, followed by some representative blood glucose control systems, where most of them use model predictive control as control algorithm, developed to date and discuss their implications in the near future.
Gly1057Asp Polymorphism of the Insulin Receptor Substrate-2 Genes May Not Have a Significant Impact on Insulin Resistance in Korean Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Background: Insulin resistance is a key factor in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and several candidate genes involved in insulin action such as insulin receptor or insulin recpetor substrate (IRS) have been investigated. In this study, we examined the genetic effects of the IRS-1 and IRS-2 genes on the metabolic and reproductive features in women with PCOS. Methods: 125 patients with PCOS and 344 regular cycling controls were enrolled. Analysis of the polymorphisms of Gly972Arg in the IRS-1 gene and Gly1057Asp in the IRS-2 gene was performed and oral glucose tolerance tests and hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp tests were done. Results: The genotype frequencies of the Gly972Arg polymorphism in the IRS-1 gene and the Gly1057Asp polymorphism in the IRS-2 gene were not significantly different between the women with PCOS and the controls. Gly972Arg polymorphism of the IRS-1 gene was extremely rare in both groups. PCOS women with the IRS-2 Asp1057Asp genotype showed significantly higher hirsutism scores, higher levels of free testosterone and higher post-load 60, 90, and 120 min plasma glucose levels compared to those women with the Gly1057Gly or Gly1057Asp genotype. In contrast, the control women with the Asp1057Asp genotype showed significantly lower post-load 60, 90, and 120 min plasma glucose levels compared with those women with the Gly1057Gly or Gly1057Asp genotype. Conclusion: Gly972Arg polymorphism of the IRS-1 gene was extremely rare in Korean women. Gly1057Asp polymorphism of the IRS-2 gene was associated with the phenotypic features of PCOS such as hirsutism, hyperandrogenemia and hyperglycemia, but it was not associated with the insulin sensitivity index. In conclusion, Gly1057Asp polymorphism of the IRS-2 gene may not have a significant impact on insulin resistance in Korean women with PCOS. (J Korean Endocr Soc 24:100~108, 2009) ꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏꠏ