Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do patients benefit from participating in medical decision making? Longitudinal follow‐up of women with breast cancer

This study sought to examine the relationships between decisional role (preferred and assumed) at time of surgical treatment (baseline), congruence between assumed role at baseline and preferred role 3 years later (follow‐up), and quality of life at follow‐up. Two hundred and five women diagnosed with breast cancer completed the decisional role preference scale at baseline and follow‐up, and the EORTC QLQ‐C30 at follow‐up. A statistically significant number of women had decisional role regret, with most of these women preferring greater involvement in treatment planning than was afforded them. Women who indicated at baseline that they were actively involved in choosing their surgical treatment had significantly higher overall quality of life at follow‐up than women who indicated passive involvement. These actively involved women had significantly higher physical and social functioning and significantly less fatigue than women who assumed a passive role. Quality of life was significantly related to reports of experienced involvement in treatment decision making, but not to reports of preferred involvement, or congruence between preferred and experienced involvement. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Efficacy and Safety of Apixaban Compared With Warfarin in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in Relation to Renal Function Over Time: Insights From the ARISTOTLE Randomized Clinical Trial.

IMPORTANCE Renal impairment confers an increased risk of stroke, bleeding, and death in patients with atrial fibrillation. Little is known about the efficacy and safety of apixaban in relation to renal function changes over time. OBJECTIVES To evaluate changes of renal function over time and their interactions with outcomes during a median of 1.8 years of follow-up in patients with atrial fibrillation randomized to apixaban vs warfarin treatment. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS The prospective, randomized, double-blind Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation (ARISTOTLE) clinical trial randomized 18 201 patients with atrial fibrillation to apixaban or warfarin. Serial creatinine measurements were available in 16 869 patients. Worsening of renal function was defined as an annual decrease in estimated glomerular filtration more than 20%. The relations between treatment, outcomes, and renal function were investigated using Cox regression models, with renal function as a time-dependent covariate. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Stroke or systemic embolism (primary outcome), major bleeding (safety outcome), and mortality were examined in relation to renal function over time estimated with both the Cockcroft-Gault and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equations. RESULTS Among 16 869 patients, the median age was 70 years and 65.2% of patients were men. Worsening in estimated glomerular filtration more than 20% was observed in 2294 patients (13.6%) and was associated with older age and more cardiovascular comorbidities. The risks of stroke or systemic embolism, major bleeding, and mortality were higher in patients with worsening renal function (HR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.17-2.01 for stroke or systemic embolism; HR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.27-1.93 for major bleeding; and HR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.98-2.68 for mortality). The beneficial effects of apixaban vs warfarin on rates of stroke or systemic embolism and major bleeding were consistent in patients with normal or poor renal function over time and also in those with worsening renal function. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In patients with atrial fibrillation, declining renal function was more common in elderly patients and those with cardiovascular comorbidities. Worsening renal function was associated with a higher risk of subsequent cardiovascular events and bleeding. The superior efficacy and safety of apixaban as compared with warfarin were similar in patients with normal, poor, and worsening renal function. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00412984.
Development of One-Step Reverse Transcriptase–Polymerase Chain Reaction to Detect Duck Hepatitis Virus Type 1

Abstract A one-step reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method was developed and optimized for the detection of duck hepatitis virus type 1 (DHV-1) using the Viral Gene-spin™ viral DNA/RNA extraction kit. A pair of DHV-1–specific primers was designed against the gene encoding RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (3D gene). Using RNA prepared from duckling liver samples infected with two reference and seven Korean field isolates of DHV-1, one-step RT-PCR with DHV-1–specific primers amplified a 467-bp fragment. Under the same conditions, no amplification was observed for 14 other avian pathogenic viruses and bacteria. Using RNA prepared from serial dilutions of the DHV-1 with the supernatant of the uninfected duckling liver homogenate (10% w/v), the one-step RT-PCR assay was found to be sensitive to 10 50% egg lethal dose (ELD50) 0.1 ml−1 of DHV-1. Furthermore, this method detected DHV-1 from the livers and allantoic fluid of duck embryos dying before 3 days postinoculation (PI) and of chicken embryos that were chilled at 3 days PI. Therefore, this one-step RT-PCR method is rapid, sensitive, and reliable, and can be readily adapted for detection of DHV-1 from other clinical samples.
Influence of performance level on dietary supplementation in elite Canadian athletes.

INTRODUCTION It is well documented that athletes report greater dietary supplement (DS) usage than nonathletes; however, limited data exist for Canadian athletes, especially relative to competitive performance levels. PURPOSE This descriptive and analytical, cross-sectional research investigated DS practices and opinions, preferred means for DS education, and antidoping opinions among elite Canadian athletes competing at various performance levels. METHODS Subjects completed a validated questionnaire by recall. Combined, 582 high-performance athletes (314 M, 268 F) between the ages of 11 and 42 yr (mean 19.96 +/- 3.91 yr) and representing 27 sports activities participated. Respondents were categorized into five competitive performance levels: provincial (68), national (101), North America (61), international or professional (89), and varsity (263). RESULTS Overall, most (88.4%) reported taking one or more DS during the previous 6 months (mean 3.08 +/- 1.87 DS per user). From a total of 1555 DS declared, sport drinks (22.4%), sport bars (14.0%), multivitamins and minerals (13.5%), protein supplements (9.0%), and vitamin C (6.4%) were most frequently reported. Athletes at the highest performance level were significantly more likely to use protein supplements, to be advised by strength trainers regarding DS usage, to have a higher self-rating of their diet, to prefer individual interviews for DS educational purposes, to perceive greater awareness of antidoping legislation, and train more h.wk(-1). Furthermore, differences were observed for the types of DS reported and justifications for use. CONCLUSION This dataset, the first of its kind in Canada, was generated with a validated and reliable questionnaire and has the potential to be extended nationally and internationally to provide greater insight into the patterns and opinions of elite athletes regarding supplementation and antidoping.
Right ventricular apical pacing: a necessary evil?

Purpose of review Clinical trial evidence suggests that traditional right ventricular apical pacing may be harmful. This review summarizes the existing evidence and outlines the major avenues of ongoing research in this field. Recent findings Despite theoretical advantages of dual-chamber pacing, large randomized trials found only a small advantage over single-chamber ventricular pacing. Subsequent analysis of one of these trials suggested that this was due to the tendency for dual-chamber pacemakers to produce frequent, unnecessary right ventricular pacing. This hypothesis is supported by a prospective study among defibrillator recipients, showing that dual-chamber pacing results in a very high frequency of ventricular pacing and worse clinical outcomes, compared with backup ventricular pacing. These observations have led to a renewed interest in single-chamber atrial pacing for sinus node dysfunction, the development of new dual-chamber pacemaker algorithms designed to minimize right ventricular pacing, and the search for better ways to pace the ventricles in patients who require ventricular pacing. Summary Conventional right ventricular apical pacing should be avoided whenever possible. In patients who require ventricular pacing, ongoing research will determine if selected-site pacing or multisite pacing improves clinical outcomes compared with traditional right ventricular apical pacing.
Reading Between the Stars: Understanding the Effects of Online Customer Reviews on Product Demand

Problem definition: Many studies have examined quantitative customer reviews (i.e., star ratings) and found them to be a reliable source of information that has a positive effect on product demand. Yet the effect of qualitative customer reviews (i.e., text reviews) on demand has been less thoroughly studied, and it is not known whether (or how) the sentiment expressed in text reviews moderates the influence of star ratings on product demand. We are therefore led to examine how the interplay between review sentiment and star ratings affects product demand. Academic/practical relevance: Consumer perceptions of product quality and how they are shared via customer reviews are of extreme relevance to the firm, but we still do not understand how product demand is affected by the quantitative and qualitative aspects of customer reviews. Our paper seeks to fill this critical gap in the literature by analyzing star ratings, the sentiment of customer reviews, and their interaction. Methodology: Using 2002–2013 data for the U.S. automobile market, we investigate empirically the impact of star ratings and review sentiment on product demand. Thus, we estimate an aggregated multinomial choice model after performing a machine learning–based sentiment analysis on the entire corpus of customer reviews included in our sample. We take advantage of a quasi-exogenous shock to establish a causal link between online reviews and product demand. Results: We find robust empirical evidence that (i) review sentiment and star ratings both have a decreasingly positive effect on product demand and (ii) the effect (on demand) of their interaction suggests that the two components of reviews are complements. Positive sentiments in text reviews increase the positive effect of ratings when the effect of ratings is decidedly positive while they also compensate for the tendency of consumers to discount extremely high star ratings. Managerial implications: The firm should pay greater attention to quantitative and qualitative customer reviews to better understand how consumers perceive the quality of its offerings.
The Coordination and Preference of Supply Chain Contracts Based on Time-Sensitivity Promotional Mechanism

Abstract To encourage retailers to submit orders as soon as possible, manufacturers usually launch a time-sensitivity promotional mechanism that the earlier you order, the cheaper the wholesale price will be in advance of the selling season. This paper aims to investigate if the mechanism can improve supply chain performance. A dyadic decentralized supply chain system comprising a single manufacturer and a single retailer is viewed as a research framework. Initially, a benchmark model is proposed to provide a criterion-referenced for coordinating the supply chain in a non-standard distribution environment. Second, a time-sensitive wholesale price contract is constructed to confirm that the mechanism can coordinate the supply chain. However, the retailer accepts the entire forecast risk under the contract. An improved contract called a time-sensitive revenue-sharing contract is constructed based on the notion that the manufacturer shares partial forecast risk. The results show that participants can arbitrarily divide the optimal supply chain’s expected profit between the constructed price contracts; however, two differences exist between the contracts, that is, participants have contract preferences. Finally, a numerical analysis and a few management insights are given.
Consumer Use of St. John's Wort: A Survey on Effectiveness, Safety, and Tolerability

Despite its poorly described pharmacology, effectiveness, and safety, use of St. John's wort (SJW) is largely unsupervised and unexplored, and can potentially lead to adverse outcomes. We conducted a telephone survey of 43 subjects who had taken SJW to assess demographics, psychiatric and medical conditions, dosage, duration of use, reason for use, side effects, concomitant drugs, professional consultation, effectiveness, relapse, and withdrawal effects. Most subjects reported taking SJW for depression, and 74% did not seek medical advice. Mean dosage was 475.6 ± 360 mg/day (range 300–1200 mg/day) and mean duration of therapy was 7.3 ± 10.1 weeks (range 1 day‐5 yrs). Among 36 (84%) reporting improvement, 18 (50%) had a psychiatric diagnosis. Twenty (47%) reported side effects, resulting in discontinuation in five (12%) and one emergency room visit. Two consumers experienced symptoms of serotonin syndrome and three reported food‐drug interactions. Thirteen consumers experienced withdrawal symptoms and two had a depressive relapse. These data suggest the need for greater consumer and provider awareness of the potential risks of SJW in self‐care of depression and related syndromes.
A review of substance abuse monitoring in a social services context: a primer for child protection workers.

UNLABELLED As drug abuse in our society escalates, child protection workers face mounting challenges in accurately assessing parental substance abuse in the interest of effective child protection. The impartial evaluation of substance use and abuse is fundamental, requiring objective and sensitive methods. A variety of biological specimens, some applicable to short-term and some to long-term monitoring, have been successful when applied to a child protection and drug abuse monitoring of caregivers. This article explores the complementary features of drug testing in urine, hair, and meconium, among other alternative matrices and discusses the practicality, basic science, and applicability of each to substance abuse monitoring in the context of child protection. KEYWORDS Drug testing, hair, meconium, prenatal, toxicology, urine screen, infant, child, drug.
The Impact of Decreasing Defined Benefit Plans on Employee Turnover

The gradual adoption of defined contribution retirement plans has been a significant change in the occupational pension system in the United States over the last few decades. By transitioning from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans, companies are shifting the financial risk associated with saving for retirement onto the employee. Though the shift of this financial risk is the primary concern for many, there are other side effects that this transition may bring about. The principal side effect observed in this research is the potential of defined contribution plans to dis-incentivize employee loyalty and contribute to increased employee turnover in a company. This is explored through univariate analysis of access to and participation in defined benefit and defined contribution plans across various categories including worker characteristics, establishment characteristics, and geographic areas. Analysis of quit rates across the categories is conducted as well in an attempt to understand the shifts in access, participation and take-up rates in defined benefit and defined contribution plans offered by employers, returns on the S&P500 Index are analyzed. The data analysis produced three key findings: 1) year over year market returns have little impact on access, participation, and take-up rates; 2) take-up rates of all retirement benefits decreased from 2008 until 2018 among all workers while quits levels increased among all workers; and 3) the exact impact of benefit plans on employee turnover is still unclear, even when surveying the data in specific industries and geographic regions.
Understanding e-Loyalty in Online Grocery Shopping

Online grocery stores are becoming more popular than ever. As the number of consumers of online grocery stores increases, understanding e-loyalty in this context is pivotal. Despite its growing importance, e-loyalty in online grocery shopping is a less explored area in expanding e-commerce literature. The purpose of this research is to examine and understand the mediating role of e-satisfaction on e-loyalty in context of online grocery shopping. Predictors (convenience, merchandising, site design, and financial security) identified in Szymanski and Hise’s e-satisfaction model are used to further extend the model by examining their relationship with e-loyalty through mediation from e-satisfaction. The proposed model was tested on a sample of 351 online shoppers through the database of two large online grocery stores in Pakistan. The results were measured through regression analysis. Findings suggest that there is no significant relationship between any of the variables under study. Moreover, the mediating effect of e-satisfaction on e-loyalty was also not found. The results indicate significant contribution in three main areas: provides new insights for understanding e-loyalty, rejects Szymanski and Hise’s e-satisfaction model in the context of online grocery shopping, and validates findings of previous researchers who had suggested distinguish nature of online grocery shopping. Managers need to adopt different strategies for online grocery shopping due to the perishable and variable nature of the products. Some other variables can also be added to the model, such as e-trust and e-service quality, to further validate the research model.
How Do Virtual Teams Work Efficiently: A Social Relationship View

Virtual teams are groups of members collaborating in the execution of a specific task from disperse locations. Increasing use of virtual teams has highlighted the need for organizations to focus on ways to improve their performance. The key issues of concern include both technical and social dimensions, and this research study addresses the latter. Hence, this study derives a social relationship model from a comprehensive literature review and conducts an experiment to validate this through SEM (structural equation modeling). The results reveal: (1) communication has a direct positive impact on relationship building, but indirect positive effects on performance and satisfaction; (2) relationship building impacts directly with strong and positive impacts on cohesion and trust, but indirectly with strong impacts on performance and satisfaction; (3) cohesion has a direct, strong, and positive impact on performance, but a strong indirect impact on satisfaction; (4) trust has a positive direct impact on performance, but an indirect positive impact on satisfaction; and (5) performance has a strong and positive impact on satisfaction. In addition, this study confirms that relationship building is a vital mediator in the social relationship model. Managerial implications and future research directions are identified.
A Novel Wideband Antenna With Reconfigurable Broadside and Endfire Patterns

This letter presents a novel wideband antenna with reconfigurable broadside and endfire radiating patterns. The proposed antenna adopts a variation of strip quasi-Yagi structure. A wideband omnidirectional monopole is used as the driver. Six parasitic strip directors are divided into two groups and located on the two opposite sides of the driver. Two reflectors are printed on the other side of the substrate. Four p-i-n diodes are used to control the length of the reflectors and further regulate the radiating pattern. Measured results show that the proposed antenna can work at C-band with a relative bandwidth of 29%. The proposed antenna has two endfire patterns and one broadside pattern, which point to the directions of θ = ±90° and θ = 0° in the elevation plane, respectively.
The Development of Audit Committees - A Review of the Literature on Theoretical and Global Perspective

The audit committee performs a pivotal role in making the right environment for quality auditing. It is the audit committee's obligation to breed an environment that encompasses an open dialogue in a culture of honesty, regard and transparency amongst management and auditors. The prime purpose of an audit committee is to provide oversight of the financial reporting process, the audit process, the system of internal controls and compliance with laws and regulations. Audit committees will consider internal controls and review their effectiveness. Since 1940, the SEC has acknowledged that an audit committee can serve a significant, and eventually essential, role in guaranteeing that a publically listed corporation financial reporting is correct. In the 1970s, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) obligated boards of directors of these listed firms to employ an audit committee. Then in the late 1980s, (Nasdaq) the National Association of Securities Dealers and (AMEX) American Stock Exchange afterward employed the audit committees. Today, innumerable practices and rules command the composition, roles, and duties of audit committees. After the Enron’s collapse, audit committee affiliates duties are enhanced and Securities Exchange Commission are investigating the board of directors and management more and more. This article provides a brief overview of audit committee’s emergence in UK and Saudi Arabia, Moreover theoretical foundations of the audit committees are also discussed.
Analysis of patient and proxy ratings on the Dysexecutive Questionnaire: an application of Rasch analysis

Background: We provide an alternate method of analysing self-report and proxy-report data on subjective complaints of dysexecutive symptoms among a group of patients with traumatic brain injury. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the ratings of patients and proxies on a measure of the dysexecutive syndrome and further explore the insight impairment problem in patients with traumatic brain injury. Methods: Rasch analysis was conducted on the ratings of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) by a sample of patients and their proxies. Results: While the average scores based on patient and proxy ratings were approximately the same (mean patient raw score = 30.12 and mean proxy raw score = 31.32), differential item functioning was found in five DEX items. As a result, the relationship between measures obtained from patient and proxy ratings was only in the moderate range (intraclass correlation = 0.46). Conclusions: Identification of differential item functioning in five of the 20 DEX items reflected the different perspectives of patients and their proxies in reporting the frequency of dysexecutive behaviour and suggests that these ratings are not interchangeable.
The relationship of the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) extra long variant to gene expression in an African American sample

The Relationship of the Serotonin Transporter (SLC6A4) Extra Long Variant to Gene Expression in an African American Sample Meeshanthini Vijayendran, Carolyn Cutrona, Steven R.H. Beach, Gene H. Brody, Daniel Russell, and Robert A. Philibert* Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Neuroscience Program, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia