Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determining personal care consumers' preferences for a consumer-directed cash and counseling option: survey results from Arkansas, Florida, New Jersey, and New York elders and adults with physical disabilities.

OBJECTIVE To assess Medicaid consumers' interest in a consumer-directed cash option for personal care and other services, in lieu of agency-delivered services. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING Telephone survey data were collected from four states from April to November 1997. Postsurvey focus groups were conducted in four states in 1998. Early implementation experiences are drawn from three states from 1999 to 2002. STUDY DESIGN Participants (N=2,140) were selected for a structured telephone survey interview from a probability-sampling frame of current Medicaid consumers in Arkansas, Florida, New Jersey, and New York. Key variables include interest in the cash option, demographic and background characteristics of consumers, as well as previous experience and training needed. Postsurvey focus groups were also conducted with current Medicaid consumers. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS Interviewers read the telephone survey from computer screens and entered responses directly into the database of the Macintosh Computer Assisted Telephone Interview software. Data were analyzed using SPSS 10.0 (http://www.spss.com) for Windows. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Cash option interest was positively associated with experience hiring and supervising workers, more severe levels of disability, having a live-in caregiver, living in Florida, and minority status. Age of the client was also a significant factor. CONCLUSIONS There is significant interest in the cash option, although interest varies among subgroups of consumers. Future research should continue to evaluate interest in the cash option among different groups of consumers, as well as actual experience with the option when the Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation (CCDE) evaluation findings are completed.
Inflammation and dietary protein intake exert competing effects on serum albumin and creatinine in hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Cross-sectional studies have shown an inverse correlation between serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum albumin concentration in hemodialysis patients. The net effects of inflammation and dietary protein intake on nutritional markers over time are unknown. METHODS To explore the effects of CRP and normalized protein catabolic rate (nPCR) on serum albumin and creatinine, we analyzed six consecutive months of laboratory data from 364 hemodialysis patients, using a multivariable Mixed model with conservative biases. RESULTS The overall trend over time in serum albumin was slightly positive (0.039 g/dL/month) and in serum creatinine slightly negative (-0.052 mg/dL/month). With increasing CRP, serum albumin declined significantly (-0.124 g/dL/month per unit increase in log CRP, adjusted for age, gender, race, diabetes, and nPCR, P < 0.0001). Serum albumin increased with increasing nPCR (0.021 g/dL/month per 0.1 g/kg/day, P < 0.0001). The effect of CRP on albumin was attenuated in African Americans and at a higher nPCR. Corresponding values for creatinine mirrored those for albumin. With increasing CRP, creatinine declined significantly [-0.142 mg/dL/month per unit increase in log CRP, adjusted for age, gender, race, diabetes (time since initiation of dialysis; vintage), Kt/V, and nPCR, P = 0.002]. Serum creatinine increased with increasing nPCR (0.183 mg/dL/month per g/kg/day, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Proxies of inflammation and dietary protein intake exert competing effects on serum albumin and creatinine in hemodialysis patients. These data provide a rationale for prospective testing of dietary protein supplementation in hemodialysis patients with biochemical evidence of ongoing inflammation and "malnutrition. "
Hepatic fibrogenesis in response to chronic liver injury: novel insights on the role of cell‐to‐cell interaction and transition

Hepatic fibrosis represents the wound‐healing response process of the liver to chronic injury, independently from aetiology. Advanced liver fibrosis results in cirrhosis that can lead to liver failure, portal hypertension and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, no effective therapies are available for hepatic fibrosis. After the definition of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) as the main liver extracellular matrix‐producing cells in the 1980s, the subsequent decade was dedicated to determine the role of specific cytokines and growth factors. Fibrotic progression of chronic liver diseases can be nowadays considered as a dynamic and highly integrated process of cellular response to chronic liver injury. The present review is dedicated to the novel mechanisms of cellular response to chronic liver injury leading to hepatic myofibroblasts' activation. The understanding of the cellular and molecular pathways regulating their function is crucial to counteract therapeutically the organ dysfunction caused by myofibroblasts' activation.
THE SURVEY OF FACTOR AFFECTING HUMAN-STRUCTURAL INTELLIGENCE IN KNOWLEDGE BASED ORGANIZATIONS

In turbulent environment, power and success of organizations depend on the intellectual capita; abilities and the main challenges of these organizations are on that how to establishe new generation of intelligent organizations for knowledge edge. The problem this research wants to solve is that how an organization that its main asset is intellectual capital can obtain organizational intelligence. The conceptual model of this research has been designed based on open system mode,l and the knowledge strategies, knowledge communities, adhocracy and intellectual capital have the enabler role for intelligence processes. Statistical population of this research includes the faculty members of the research centers of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. Totally, 278 persons have been selected based on classified sampling. The results showed that adhocracy with %86 of coefficient has the highest effect on structural intelligence processes. Also knowledge strategies and intellectual capitals correspondingly with %67 and %64 of coefficient are in the second and third rankings. Also the results showed that adhocracy with %64, intellectual capital and knowledge strategies with %59 of coefficient correspondingly have the highest effect on human intelligence processes.
Preadoption adversity, MAOA, and behavioral adjustment in internationally adopted Chinese girls

Objectives We studied postinstitutionalized adopted Chinese girls to determine whether those with different variants of the MAOA gene promoter region (MAOA-VNTR) differed in their internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and whether the MAOA genotype moderated the relation between preadoption adversity and current behavior problems. Methods MAOA genotyping was obtained for 94 girls (mean age: 9.2 years) and the number of 4-repeat (4R) alleles was determined (zero, one, or two). The adoptive mothers rated several indicators of preadoption adversity shortly after adoption (mean age at adoption 15.8 months) and completed the Child Behavior Checklist when the children were 8.1 years on average. Results No main effects were found for preadoption adversity. However, the MAOA genotype had a nominally significant effect (P<0.05) on internalizing problems. Regression analyses controlling for age, household income, authoritarian parenting, and family problems showed that among children with no physical signs of preadoption adversity, those carrying a greater number of 4R alleles scored significantly lower (P<0.01) on internalizing problems than those with fewer 4R alleles. Differences in internalizing scores related to the MAOA genotype were not observed for children who showed one or more physical signs of adversity at the time of adoption. A similar pattern was found for externalizing problems, although the results did not reach conventional levels of significance. Conclusion Our results suggest that higher MAOA activity may be protective with respect to internalizing problems in internationally adopted Chinese girls, but that this protective effect decreases at higher levels of preadoption adversity. A similar pattern may exist for externalizing problems.
Knee Arthroplasty in the Young Patient: Survival in a Community Registry

Operative options for the younger patient with an arthritic knee remain controversial. We prospectively followed 1047 patients 55 years old or younger who underwent knee arthroplasty in a community joint registry over a 14-year period. Patients were implanted with 1047 joints of three predominant designs by 48 surgeons in four hospitals associated with a community joint registry. The mean age for this cohort was 49.8 years, and 62.8% (657/1047) of the patients were female. There were a total of 73 revisions performed, 5.6% (37/653) in women and 9.2% (36/394) in men. Cemented TKAs performed best, with a cumulative revision rate of 15.5%, compared to 32.3% in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) patients and 34.1% in cementless designs. Men had a higher cumulative revision rate than women, 31.9% compared to 20.6%. Adjusting for implant type and gender, there was no difference in cumulative revision rate based on diagnosis (OA versus other) or age group (≤40, 41-45, 46-50, 51-55 years) or between cruciate-retaining and -substituting designs. Eighty five percent of cemented TKA implants survived at 14 years in the population under 55 years of age in this community registry. Cementless designs and UKA increased revision risk independently.Level of Evidence: Level II, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Effect of Graphite Concentration on Shear-Wave Speed in Gelatin-Based Tissue-Mimicking Phantoms

Elasticity-based imaging modalities are becoming popular diagnostic tools in clinical practice. Gelatin-based, tissue mimicking phantoms that contain graphite as the acoustic scattering material are commonly used in testing and validating elasticity-imaging methods to quantify tissue stiffness. The gelatin bloom strength and concentration are used to control phantom stiffness. While it is known that graphite concentration can be modulated to control acoustic attenuation, the impact of graphite concentration on phantom elasticity has not been characterized in these gelatin phantoms. This work investigates the impact of graphite concentration on phantom shear stiffness as characterized by shear-wave speed measurements using impulsive acoustic-radiation-force excitations. Phantom shear-wave speed increased by 0.83 (m/s)/(dB/(cm MHz)) when increasing the attenuation coefficient slope of the phantom material through increasing graphite concentration. Therefore, gelatin-phantom stiffness can be affected by the conventional ways that attenuation is modulated through graphite concentration in these phantoms.
Travel-associated enteric infections diagnosed after return to the United States, Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), 2004-2009.

BACKGROUND Approximately 40% of US travelers to less developed countries experience diarrheal illness. Using data from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), we describe travel-associated enteric infections during 2004-2009, characterizing the patients, pathogens, and destinations involved. METHODS FoodNet conducts active surveillance at 10 US sites for laboratory-confirmed infections with 9 pathogens transmitted commonly through food. Travel-associated infections are infections diagnosed in the United States but likely acquired abroad based on a pathogen-specific time window between return from international travel to diagnosis. We compare the demographic, clinical, and exposure-related characteristics of travelers with those of nontravelers and estimate the risk of travel-associated infections by destination, using US Department of Commerce data. RESULTS Of 64,039 enteric infections reported to FoodNet with information about travel, 8270 (13%) were travel associated. The pathogens identified most commonly in travelers were Campylobacter (42%), nontyphoidal Salmonella (32%), and Shigella (13%). The most common travel destinations were Mexico, India, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. Most travel-associated infections occurred in travelers returning from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Risk was greatest after travel to Africa (75.9 cases per 100,000 population), followed by Asia (22.7 cases per 100,000), and LAC (20.0 cases per 100,000). CONCLUSIONS The Latin America and Caribbean region accounts for most travel-associated enteric infections diagnosed in the United States, although travel to Africa carries the greatest risk. Although FoodNet surveillance does not cover enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, a common travel-associated infection, this information about other key enteric pathogens can be used by travelers and clinicians in pre- and posttravel consultations.
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Evaluating the Applicability of Data-Driven Dietary Patterns to Independent Samples with a Focus on Measurement Tools for Pattern Similarity

77 Background: Diet is a key modifiable risk for many chronic diseases. But it remains unclear if 78 dietary patterns from one study sample are generalizable to other independent populations. 79 Objective: The primary objective of this study was to assess whether data-driven dietary patterns 80 from one study sample are applicable to other populations. The secondary objective was to assess 81 the validity of two criteria of pattern similarity. 82 Methods: Six dietary patterns – “Western” (n=3), “Mediterranean”, “Prudent”, and “Healthy” – 83 from three published studies on breast cancer were reconstructed in a case-control study of 973 84 breast cancer cases and 973 controls. Three more “internal” patterns (“Western”, “Prudent”, 85 “Mediterranean”) were derived from this case-control study’s own data. 86 Statistical Analysis: Applicability was assessed by comparing the six reconstructed patterns with 87 the three internal dietary patterns, using the congruence coefficient (CC) between pattern loadings. 88 If any pair met either of two commonly used criteria for declaring patterns similar (CC≥0.85 or a 89 statistically significant (p<0.05) Pearson correlation), then the true similarity of those two dietary 90 patterns was double-checked by comparing their associations to risk for breast cancer, in order to 91 assess whether those two criteria of similarity are actually reliable. 92 Results: Five of the six reconstructed dietary patterns showed high congruence (CC>0.9) to their 93 corresponding dietary pattern derived from the case-control study’s data. Similar associations with 94 risk for breast cancer were found in all pairs of dietary patterns that had high CC but not in all pairs 95 of dietary patterns with statistically significant correlations. 96 Conclusions: Similar dietary patterns can be found in independent samples. The p-value of a 97 correlation coefficient is less reliable than the CC as a criterion for declaring two dietary patterns 98
A search log clustering algorithm based on the idea of hierarchy

Data analysis for search logs is becoming more and more important and necessary. A search query may contain several keywords, which makes the text belong to different categories. This paper presents a new algorithm called Sequential Clustering Algorithm for clustering search logs. Different from many other clustering algorithms, the proposed algorithm can cluster one record into multiple categories and meanwhile achieve a balance among time complexity, clustering reliability and the involved parameters. These are realized by text combination and text backtracking. Text combination forms the feature of each category automatically, and text backtracking makes the previous texts have opportunities to be compared with new categories. In the experiments, the proposed algorithm and the general hierarchical clustering algorithm were applied to the clustering of search log texts. The results suggest that our proposed algorithm can improve the clustering performance.
Psychiatric symptoms in children and adolescents with cyclic vomiting syndrome and their parents.

OBJECTIVE To conduct a pilot study to evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in children and adolescents with cyclic vomiting syndrome and to assess family history of psychiatric disorder. BACKGROUND Little is known about psychiatric comorbidity in youth with cyclic vomiting syndrome, a periodic syndrome. METHODS Eighty-five parents, of children aged 3-18 years with cyclic vomiting syndrome confirmed in a multidisciplinary clinic, completed the age-appropriate Children's Symptom Inventory, a questionnaire that screens for psychiatric symptoms in pediatric patients. Twenty-one adolescents aged 13-18 years completed the Youth's Report, a self-report form of this questionnaire. Sixty-two parents completed a family psychiatric history checklist. RESULTS These children and their parents evidenced a high prevalence of anxiety and mood symptoms compared to norms of the Children's Symptom Inventory and population norms for internalizing psychiatric disorders. On the age-appropriate Children's Symptom Inventory, 47% of subjects (40/85) met diagnostic cut-off for an anxiety disorder, and 14% (12/85) for an affective disorder. Discrepancies were found in parent and adolescent reports for symptoms of panic disorder (chi-square = 4.83, df = 1, P = .028), posttraumatic stress disorder (chi-square = 6.87, df = 1, P = .009), and somatization disorder (chi-square = 6.41, df = 1, P = .01), with parents reporting significantly more symptoms than the adolescents. Internalizing disorders were also prevalent in the parents with 59% (36/62) endorsing either an anxiety and/or an affective disorder. Mothers reported a significantly higher prevalence of anxiety disorders (35%) than did fathers (13%) (chi-square = 8.43, df = 1, P < .004). CONCLUSION Children and adolescents with cyclic vomiting syndrome appear to be at increased risk for internalizing psychiatric disorders, especially anxiety disorders. Further research using standardized psychiatric interviews and a control group are indicated to further assess psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with cyclic vomiting syndrome.
Neurons involved in nitric oxide–mediated cGMP signaling in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta

Recently, both nitric oxide synthase (NOS), and nitric oxide (NO)‐sensitive guanylyl cyclase were cloned in Manduca sexta and implicated in several cellular, developmental, and behavioral processes (Nighorn et al. [1998] J Neurosci 18:7244–7255). However, NO is a highly diffusive gas, and little is known about the range and specificity of its actions on neurons. To begin examining the role of NO as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS) of larval Manduca, we have mapped potential NO‐producing neurons using fixation‐resistant NADPH‐diaphorase staining and antisera that recognize a NOS‐specific epitope. In addition, to detect NO‐responsive neurons, we treated the CNS with NO donors and used antibodies that recognize elevated levels of cyclic 3`,5`‐guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). Many potential NO‐producing neurons were mapped, including the ventral unpaired median cells and three pairs of lateral cells in each abdominal ganglion. Additional neurons in the dorsal midline of ganglia A5‐7 (PM2) appear to express NOS in a segment‐specific manner. At the larval‐to‐pupal transition, this staining pattern changes; the PM2 neurons stain weakly or are undetectable and there is novel expression of NOS in cell 27. In response to NO donors, a small number of neurons produce detectable cGMP accumulation in a segment‐specific pattern. These include a pair of posteriodorsally positioned interneurons (IN505) in all the abdominal ganglia, PM2 neurons in A5, and PM1 and PM2 neurons in A7. Hence, PM2 neurons in A5 and A7 are potentially capable of producing and responding to NO. These identified NO‐producing and responding neurons provide a tractable model system for studying the dynamics and specificity of NO signaling in the CNS. J. Comp. Neurol. 419:422–438, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Does Organizational Justice Matter in the Federal Workplace?

The theory of organizational justice has been supported by numerous empirical studies in the private sector. Although public administration scholars have investigated the fairness issue in pay and promotions, the main focus was confined to specific groups such as females and racial minorities. This research seeks to fill the gap by providing some generalizable findings. We investigate the justice issue by considering both individual- and organizational-level factors. By employing hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), the research examines whether the three dimensions of organizational justice—distributive, procedural, and informational justice—and several organizational-level factors affect four outcomes, including expectancy for career development, employee satisfaction, loyalty to senior leadership, and cooperation. The analysis confirms that the three dimensions of organizational justice are substantially associated with those employee attitudes, although organizational-level factors have little impact on them.
Combining genetic markers and clinical risk factors improves the risk assessment of impaired glucose metabolism

Abstract Background. Although several candidate gene polymorphisms (SNPs) have been associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), relatively few studies have assessed the ability of T2DM candidate genes to assess the risk of impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and T2DM beyond the information provided by clinical risk factors. Objective. To test whether the inclusion of genetic markers in a regression model provides a better assessment of the risk of IFG, IGT, and T2DM than a model based only on non-genetic risk factors commonly assessed in clinical settings. Methods. Subjects (n = 485; 213 parents, 272 offspring) from the Quebec Family Study, not known to haveT2DM, were measured for several risk factors and underwent an oral glucose tolerance test. Thirty-eight SNPs in 25 susceptibility/ candidate genes previously reported to be associated with T2DM were genotyped. In order to identify risk factors associated with IFG/IGT/T2DM, two logistic regression models were tested: a full model (FM) including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, smoking status, and the 38 SNPs; and a reduced model (RM), in which the SNPs were dropped, which allowed us to test the null-hypothesis that the markers are not associated with the risk of IFG/IGT/T2DM. Performances of the models were compared by using a likelihood ratio test and the receiver-operating characteristic curves (ROC). The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated from the ROC curve. Results. The analyses showed that age (P < 0.0001), BMI (P < 0.0001), and six variants (IGF2BP2 rs4402960, P = 0.002; ADIPOQ+276 G>T, P = 0.004; UCP2Ala55Val, P = 0.01; CDKN2AI2B rs3731201, P = 0.02; rs495490, P = 0.02, and rsl 0811661, P = 0.03) were significantly associated with the risk of IFG/IGT/T2DM. Dropping genetic markers from the analysis significantly reduced the fit of the model to the data (chi-square = 38.98, P < 0.00001 contrasting RM to FM), suggesting that the genetic markers are significantly associated with the risk of IFG/IGT/T2DM. Furthermore, the AUC was higher for FM than for RM (0.85 (95% CI 0.81–0.89) versus 0.81 (95% CI 0.76–0.85), P = 0.004). Conclusion. Our results suggest that combining genetic markers with traditional clinical risk factors has the potential to improve our ability to assess the risk of complex diseases such as T2DM.