Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hábito de fumar, exposición al tabaco y síntomas respiratorios en la población escolar de 14-15 años de Terrassa(Barcelona)

Resumen Objetivos: Estudio de la prevalencia del hábito de fumar, la exposición pasiva al humo del tabaco, y los síntomas y los antecedentes relacionados con el asma en la población escolar de 14-15 años de Terrassa (Barcelona). Métodos: En total 793 alumnos de 21 escuelas de Terrassa respondieron un cuestionario que incluía información sobre el hábito de fumar, la exposición ambiental al tabaco, factores del entorno familiar y personal, síntomas respiratorios y antecedentes de asma. Resultados: La prevalencia de fumadores habituales (diariamente) fue del 16,3% (13,7-18,9), similar en ambos sexos. La edad, el hábito de los amigos y de la madre y tener hermanos mayores se asociaron de manera independiente al hábito de fumar. Durante el último año el 13% de los escolares presentaron sibilancia y 20,3% tos nocturna. El hábito de fumar diariamente y la exposición pasiva al tabaco se asociaron positivamente a la prevalencia de síntomas pero no al diagnóstico previo de asma. Conclusiones: Se observa cierta estabilización del hábito de fumar en los adolescentes, con tendencia a una mayor prevalencia en el sexo femenino. La presencia de tabaco en el entorno social y familiar se asocia a la presencia del hábito de fumar regularmente en los adolescentes. Tanto el hábito activo como la exposición pasiva al tabaco se asocian a un incremento de la sintomatología relacionada con el asma. Palabras clave: Prevalencia. Adolescentes. Hábito de fumar. Exposición ambiental al tabaco. Asma. Summary Objectives: Assessment of the prevalence of smoking habits, environmental tobacco exposure, and asthma-related symptoms in a cross-sectional study in schoolchildren aged 14-15 years in Terrassa (Barcelona). Methods: A sample of 793 students from 21 schools answered a self-administered questionnaire including information on smoking habits, environmental tobacco exposure and asthma-related symptoms. Results: The prevalence of smoking daily was 16.3% (CI 13.718.9); no difference between sexes were observed, while the proportion of occasional smokers was higher among girls. Age, maternal habit, friend’s smoking habit and having older siblings were independently associated to the schoolchildren’s smoking habits. Overall, 13% reported a positive history of wheezing and 20.3% of nocturnal cough during the previous year. Smoking daily and passive smoking were positively associated with the prevalence of asthma-related symptoms, but not with previous diagnosis of asthma. Conclusions: The prevalence of smoking among adolescents seems to have levelled off. There is some trend toward a higher prevalence among girls than among boys. The presence of smoking in the social environment is a strong predictor of the smoking habits among schoolchildren. Both active smoking and environmental exposure to tobacco smoke are associated to increased asthma-related symptoms.
International trends in anal cancer incidence rates.

Background Previous studies have reported rapid increases in anal cancer incidence rates in seven high-income countries in North America, Europe and Oceania. There is very limited information on whether this pattern is replicated in other parts of the world. In this study, we examine recent trends in anal cancer incidence in 18 countries worldwide. Methods We calculated age-standardized incidence rates for anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) and anal adenocarcinoma (AAC) for a minimum of 13 years through to 2007, using data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer's Cancer Incidence in Five Continents series, and applied joinpoint regression models to assess changes in incidence rates. We also conducted an extended analysis of the data from the USA through to 2012. Results ASCC was the main histological subtype in most of the countries considered in this analysis. The incidence of ASCC increased in both men and women in several high-income countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, the UK and the USA, whereas it increased only in women in Colombia, Estonia, the Russian Federation, Slovakia and Switzerland. Conversely, there was little change in the incidence of ASCC in either men or women in India, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Spain. The incidence rates of AAC decreased or were stable in most populations. Conclusions The ASCC incidence rates increased in both men and women or in women in all countries included in this study, except Asian countries and Spain, where the rates remained unchanged. Population-based preventive measures, including human papillomavirus vaccination and advocacy for safe sexual behaviours, may contribute to curbing the surging burden of the disease.
The importance of free fatty acid chain length for the skin barrier function in atopic eczema patients

An important feature of atopic eczema (AE) is a decreased skin barrier function. The stratum corneum (SC) lipids – comprised of ceramides (CERs), free fatty acids (FFAs) and cholesterol – fulfil a predominant role in the skin barrier function. In this clinical study, the carbon chain length distribution of SC lipids (FFAs and CERs) and their importance for the lipid organization and skin barrier function were examined in AE patients and compared with control subjects. A reduction in FFA chain length and an increase in unsaturated FFAs are observed in non‐lesional and lesional SC of AE patients. The reduction in FFA chain length associates with a reduced CER chain length, suggesting a common synthetic pathway. The lipid chain length reduction correlates with a less dense lipid organization and a decreased skin barrier function. All changes are more pronounced in lesional SC compared with non‐lesional skin. No association was observed between lipid properties and filaggrin mutations, an important predisposing factor for developing AE. The results of this study demonstrate an altered SC lipid composition and signify the importance of these changes (specifically regarding the CER and FFA chain lengths) for the impaired skin barrier function in AE. This provides insights into epidermal lipid metabolism as well as new opportunities for skin barrier repair.
Master scheduling of medical specialists

Medical specialists perform different activities in hospitals: seeing patients in clinics in the outpatient department, performing surgical procedures on patients in sessions in operating theatre departments, seeing patients at the ward during a ward round, being on call for seeing unscheduled patients at the emergency department. To co-ordinate these activities the group of specialists belonging to the same discipline uses a schedule that describes the timing of these activities on a weekly basis. This case study deals with the process of developing master schedules for the activities of medical specialists organised in a specialty practice in a hospital. A model has been developed to describe and analyse the problem. The model has been implemented in a tool called MediPlan that not only increases the performance of the master schedules, but also decreases the process time needed to generate such schedules. The optimisation procedure implemented in MediPlan is based on simulated annealing, a well-known local search technique. The performance of the tool is tested by means of a case study for the specialty of orthopaedics within a hospital in the Netherlands.
Impact of energy efficiency interventions in public housing buildings on cold-related mortality: a case-crossover analysis.

Background Interventions to mitigate fuel poverty and particularly energy efficiency façade retrofitting (EEFR) have demonstrated positive impacts on health but the impacts of EEFR interventions on cold-related mortality have not been studied in depth. We evaluated the impact of EEFR interventions in Barcelona on the association between cold outdoor temperatures and mortality (from all natural causes and from neoplasms, circulatory system and respiratory system causes) from 1986 to 2012. Methods A time-stratified case-crossover analysis was used. Relative risks (RR) for death related to extreme cold (lowest fifth percentile) in the no-intervention and intervention groups were obtained for temperature lag windows covering the day of the death and the previous 20 days (0-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17, 18-20). The statistical significance of the observed changes was evaluated using the RR for the cold temperature-intervention interaction. Results In men, interventions significantly increased the extreme cold-death association for the lag window 15-17 [interaction RR 2.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-4.36]. The impacts were stronger for respiratory system causes and in men aged 75 or older. In women, on lag window 0-2, the extreme cold-death association was not significantly reduced when analysing all natural causes of death (interaction RR 0.46, 95% CI 0.21-1.01), but it was reduced significantly when analysing only deaths from neoplasms, circulatory system and respiratory system causes together. The impacts were stronger in women who died from circulatory system causes, in women with no education and in those aged 75 or older. Conclusions EEFR interventions had differentiated effects on cold-related mortality in men and women. Differentiated effects were also observed by cause, educational level and age.
Consensus on the Existence of Functional Erythropoietin Receptors on Cancer Cells.

Consensus on the Existence of Functional Erythropoietin Receptors on Cancer Cells Even when the US Food and Drug Administration approved erythropoietin to treat chemotherapy-induced anemia in 1993, concern was raised that administration of erythropoietin may lead to tumor growth. This possibility was derived from concern that erythropoietin receptors or homologous receptors reside on cancer cells and respond to exogenous erythropoietin, inducing activation of the cell signaling pathway and cellular functional changes. There has been widespread disagreement on this topic. Before 2008, a review found that scientists without funding from manufacturers of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) were more likely than scientists with such funding or scientists employed by manufacturers of ESAs to report erythropoietin receptors on solid tumor cells, erythropoietin-induced signaling changes, or cellular function changes.1 Three studies have been published by scientists employed by manufacturers of ESAs, which was too small a number to allow for direct comparisons between findings of academic scientists and scientists employed by manufacturers of ESAs.1 In 2007, the National Cancer Institute convened a workshop seeking to facilitate consensus on this topic. Thirteen of 14 academic scientists without funding from manufacturers of ESAs reported that erythropoietin receptors were involved in cancer progression while all 6 scientists employed by manufacturers of ESAs reported the opposite (A. Mufson, PhD, written communication, August 2015) (Table). Review of subsequent studies provides opportunities to evaluate whether consensus was achieved after the workshop. Our hypothesis is that differences in findings regarding erythropoietin receptors between academic scientists and scientists employed by manufacturers of ESAs would persist after the workshop.
Wellness programs at firefighter and police workplaces: A systematic review

Objectives This systematic review summarizes the literature on the health effects of wellness programs at police and firefighter workplaces. The review also considers process outcomes and economic evaluations of such programs. Methods A systematic search of articles published from January 1, 2000 through September 1, 2012 in 13 databases was conducted. Data on 7 studies from 9 articles were extracted. An assessment of the methodological quality of the studies was conducted. Results Studies showed acceptable completion rates and high satisfaction with programs, but mixed results for changes in individual outcomes. Conclusion Empirical evidence for effective health and wellness programs in police and firefighter populations is scarce. Better evaluation and documentation of such programs is needed to advance this field of research.
Natural Language Processing in Oncology: A Review.

IMPORTANCE Natural language processing (NLP) has the potential to accelerate translation of cancer treatments from the laboratory to the clinic and will be a powerful tool in the era of personalized medicine. This technology can harvest important clinical variables trapped in the free-text narratives within electronic medical records. OBSERVATIONS Natural language processing can be used as a tool for oncological evidence-based research and quality improvement. Oncologists interested in applying NLP for clinical research can play pivotal roles in building NLP systems and, in doing so, contribute to both oncological and clinical NLP research. Herein, we provide an introduction to NLP and its potential applications in oncology, a description of specific tools available, and a review on the state of the current technology with respect to cancer case identification, staging, and outcomes quantification. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE More automated means of leveraging unstructured data from daily clinical practice is crucial as therapeutic options and access to individual-level health information increase. Research-minded oncologists may push the avenues of evidence-based research by taking advantage of the new technologies available with clinical NLP. As continued progress is made with applying NLP toward oncological research, incremental gains will lead to large impacts, building a cost-effective infrastructure for advancing cancer care.
Use of paracetamol, ibuprofen or aspirin in pregnancy and risk of cerebral palsy in the child.

Background It has been debated whether mild analgesics, mainly paracetamol, adversely affect aspects of neurodevelopment. We examined whether mother's use of paracetamol, aspirin or ibuprofen in pregnancy is associated with increased risk of cerebral palsy (CP) in the child. Method We included 185 617 mother-child pairs from the Danish National Birth Cohort and the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. We created harmonized definitions of analgesic use in pregnancy, as well as indications for analgesic use and other potential confounders. Children with CP were identified in nationwide registers. We estimated the average causal effect of analgesics on risk of CP using marginal structural models with stabilized inverse probability weights. Results Paracetamol use was reported in 49% of all pregnancies, aspirin in 3% and ibuprofen in 4%. Prenatal exposure to paracetamol ever in pregnancy was associated with increased risk of overall CP [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0-1.7] and unilateral spastic CP (aOR 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0-2.2). The association appeared to be driven by an increased risk of unilateral spastic CP in children exposed in second trimester (aOR 1.6, 95% CI: 1.0-2.5). Children ever prenatally exposed to aspirin in pregnancy had an elevated risk of bilateral spastic CP (aOR 2.4, 95% CI: 1.1-5.3) compared with unexposed. Conclusion We observed an increased risk of spastic CP in children prenatally exposed to paracetamol and aspirin. Although we controlled for several important indications for analgesic use, we cannot exclude the possibility of confounding by underlying diseases.
The Role of p53 and MDM2 Expression in Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma

Child Rhabdomyosarcoma. http://www.nci. nih.gov/cancertopics/types/childrhabdomyosarcoma/ (accessed 10/11/09). Felix, C.A. , Kappel, C.C. , Mitsudomi, T. , Nau, M.M. , Tsokos, M. , Crouch, G.D. et al. 1992. Frequency and diversity of p53 mutations in childhood rhabdomyosarcoma. Cancer Res, 52: 2243-2247. Nakajima, N. , Ito, Y. , Yokoyama, K. , Uno, A. , Kinukawa, N. , Nemoto, N. , and Moriyama, M. 2008. The expression of murine double minute two (MDM2) on helicobacter pylori-infected intestinal metaplasia and gastric cancer. J Clin Biochem Nutr, 44: 196-202. Rhabdomyosarcoma. http://www.acor. org/ped-onc/diseases/rhabdo.html (accessed 10/11/09). 1. Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) accounts for over half of the soft tissue sarcomas diagnosed in children. The Role of p53 and MDM2 Expression in Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma
Breast Cancer Risk From Modifiable and Nonmodifiable Risk Factors Among White Women in the United States.

Importance An improved model for risk stratification can be useful for guiding public health strategies of breast cancer prevention. Objective To evaluate combined risk stratification utility of common low penetrant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and epidemiologic risk factors. Design, Setting, and Participants Using a total of 17 171 cases and 19 862 controls sampled from the Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium (BPC3) and 5879 women participating in the 2010 National Health Interview Survey, a model for predicting absolute risk of breast cancer was developed combining information on individual level data on epidemiologic risk factors and 24 genotyped SNPs from prospective cohort studies, published estimate of odds ratios for 68 additional SNPs, population incidence rate from the National Cancer Institute-Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program cancer registry and data on risk factor distribution from nationally representative health survey. The model is used to project the distribution of absolute risk for the population of white women in the United States after adjustment for competing cause of mortality. Exposures Single nucleotide polymorphisms, family history, anthropometric factors, menstrual and/or reproductive factors, and lifestyle factors. Main Outcomes and Measures Degree of stratification of absolute risk owing to nonmodifiable (SNPs, family history, height, and some components of menstrual and/or reproductive history) and modifiable factors (body mass index [BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], menopausal hormone therapy [MHT], alcohol, and smoking). Results The average absolute risk for a 30-year-old white woman in the United States developing invasive breast cancer by age 80 years is 11.3%. A model that includes all risk factors provided a range of average absolute risk from 4.4% to 23.5% for women in the bottom and top deciles of the risk distribution, respectively. For women who were at the lowest and highest deciles of nonmodifiable risks, the 5th and 95th percentile range of the risk distribution associated with 4 modifiable factors was 2.9% to 5.0% and 15.5% to 25.0%, respectively. For women in the highest decile of risk owing to nonmodifiable factors, those who had low BMI, did not drink or smoke, and did not use MHT had risks comparable to an average woman in the general population. Conclusions and Relevance This model for absolute risk of breast cancer including SNPs can provide stratification for the population of white women in the United States. The model can also identify subsets of the population at an elevated risk that would benefit most from risk-reduction strategies based on altering modifiable factors. The effectiveness of this model for individual risk communication needs further investigation.
Recombinant erythroid differentiation regulator 1 inhibits both inflammation and angiogenesis in a mouse model of rosacea

The erythroid differentiation regulator 1 (Erdr1), which is a novel and highly conserved factor, was recently reported to be negatively regulated by IL‐18 and to play a crucial role as an antimetastatic factor. IL‐18 is a proinflammatory cytokine that functions as an angiogenic mediator in inflammation. Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that is characterized by abnormal inflammation and vascular hyperactivity of the facial skin. To determine whether Erdr1 contributes to the regulation of the chronic inflammatory process in the development of rosacea, an immunohistochemical analysis was performed in healthy donors and patients with rosacea. In this study, we showed that Erdr1 was downregulated, whereas IL‐18 was upregulated, in patients with rosacea, which led us to question the role of Erdr1 in this disorder. Moreover, a rosacea‐like BALB/c mouse model was used to determine the role of Erdr1 in rosacea in vivo. LL‐37 injection induced typical rosacea features, including erythema, telangiectasia and inflammation. Treatment with recombinant Erdr1 (rErdr1) resulted in a significant reduction of erythema, inflammatory cell infiltration (including CD4+ and CD8+ T cells), and microvessel density with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Taken together, our findings suggest that rErdr1 may be involved in attenuating the inflammation and angiogenesis associated with the pathogenesis of rosacea. Thus, these results provide new insight into the mechanism involved in this condition and indicate that rErdr1 could be a potential target for therapeutic intervention of rosacea.
Candidate genes linking maternal nutrient exposure to offspring health via DNA methylation: a review of existing evidence in humans with specific focus on one-carbon metabolism

Abstract Background Mounting evidence suggests that nutritional exposures during pregnancy influence the fetal epigenome, and that these epigenetic changes can persist postnatally, with implications for disease risk across the life course. Methods We review human intergenerational studies using a three-part search strategy. Search 1 investigates associations between preconceptional or pregnancy nutritional exposures, focusing on one-carbon metabolism, and offspring DNA methylation. Search 2 considers associations between offspring DNA methylation at genes found in the first search and growth-related, cardiometabolic and cognitive outcomes. Search 3 isolates those studies explicitly linking maternal nutritional exposure to offspring phenotype via DNA methylation. Finally, we compile all candidate genes and regions of interest identified in the searches and describe their genomic locations, annotations and coverage on the Illumina Infinium Methylation beadchip arrays. Results We summarize findings from the 34 studies found in the first search, the 31 studies found in the second search and the eight studies found in the third search. We provide details of all regions of interest within 45 genes captured by this review. Conclusions Many studies have investigated imprinted genes as priority loci, but with the adoption of microarray-based platforms other candidate genes and gene classes are now emerging. Despite a wealth of information, the current literature is characterized by heterogeneous exposures and outcomes, and mostly comprise observational associations that are frequently underpowered. The synthesis of current knowledge provided by this review identifies research needs on the pathway to developing possible early life interventions to optimize lifelong health.