Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Designing a framework for the delivery of collaborative musculoskeletal care involving chiropractors and physicians in community-based primary care

Strategies have been proposed to facilitate collaboration between conventional health care providers in primary care. However, little is known if these are transferable to CAM health care providers. We designed a qualitative study to articulate a conceptual model to advance the interprofessional collaboration between physicians and chiropractors within community-based primary care in Ontario, Canada. Data obtained from 16 key informants and eight focus groups, with a range of professionals including chiropractors, physicians and academia as well as patients, informed the development our framework. The framework included processed-based factors that clustered under three categories: communication, practice parameters, and service delivery; presumed necessary to address challenges and optimize benefits of collaboration. The development of this framework may help understand and promote interprofessional collaborative practice and contribute to the understanding of how CAM may participate in mainstream healthcare.
Spread of SARS and War-Related Rumors through New Media in China

Current literature suggests that, as a form of communication, rumor is a story or statement circulated without confirmation. Rumors emerge under conditions marked by a combination of uncertainty, involvement, anxiety, and credulity, and may circulate by word-of-mouth or various media. The SARS- and war-related rumors in China in 2003 have stimulated new thoughts to the existing theories of rumor. The spread of the rumors was due to a unique combination of Chinese culture and society, the media environment in China, and conditions conducive to generating rumors. New media played a significant role in disseminating information with high efficiency and facilitating free flow of information.
On the Perceptual Reality of Synesthetic Color

2 Synesthesia – the mental mixture of real and illusory sensory experiences – is incredibly fascinating to read or hear about but frustratingly complex to study. Those of us who are not synesthetes are spellbound by the accounts of those who are, but at the same time we are mystified by why these mixtures would occur. As the chapters in this volume document, scientific investigation of synesthesia has rapidly developed into an area of great interest and debate within cognitive neuroscience, and our group at Vanderbilt is among those seeking to understand this fascinating phenomenon. In our work, we have focused on color-graphemic synesthesia: the perception of color when viewing achromatic alphanumeric characters (in this chapter, we use the term " achromatic " to refer to figures printed in black ink against a white background). Judging from the existing literature on synesthesia, as well as from the tremendous volume of unsolicited, anecdotal accounts we have received from synesthetes, color-graphemic synesthesia appears to be the most common form of the condition. Certainly this variety of synesthesia provides for some of the most memorable and amusing accounts. Thus, for example, one individual who sees digits vividly colored volunteered to us that she performed arithmetic using her colors and was surprised upon first learning that others did not: " I thought everyone did math with colors – that yellow plus yellow was red for everyone. " Another individual complained that she often confused appointments scheduled for Tuesday or for Thursday, because both days are " red. " Still another confessed to an unfounded dislike of the city of Houston " just because the word was a ugly shade of brown " and another acknowledged that " my husband knows that I couldn't have married him if his name had been the 'wrong' color for me … we are, color-wise, perfectly compatible. " These and the many other transcriptions we have compiled from synesthetic volunteers lead us to accept that their graphemic colors are vivid and, in some sense, real. 3 The great challenge in learning about synesthesia, of course, is to develop objective experimental strategies for going beyond these colorful verbal accounts. To be honest, our interest in synesthesia grew entirely out of the fortuitous identification of a few individuals within our academic community who experience color-graphemic synesthesia. While none in our research group was expert in color vision, we were all intrigued …
The N-Terminal Domain of Nogo-A Inhibits Cell Adhesion and Axonal Outgrowth by an Integrin-Specific Mechanism

Myelin-derived Nogo-A protein limits axonal growth after CNS injury. One domain binds to the Nogo-66 receptor to inhibit axonal outgrowth, whereas a second domain, Amino-Nogo, inhibits axonal outgrowth and cell adhesion through unknown mechanisms. Here, we show that Amino-Nogo inhibition depends strictly on the composition of the extracellular matrix, suggesting that Amino-Nogo inhibits the function of certain integrins. Amino-Nogo inhibition can be partially overcome by antibodies that activate integrin β1 or by the addition of Mn2+, an integrin activator. Furthermore, Amino-Nogo reduces focal adhesion kinase activation by fibronectin. Analysis of various cell lines reveals that αvβ3, α5, and α4 integrins are sensitive to Amino-Nogo, but α6 integrin is not. Both αv and α5 integrins have widespread expression in adult brain and are found in axonal growth cones. Thus, inhibition of integrin signaling by Amino-Nogo contributes to the failure of CNS axon regeneration.
Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism

Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism. By Thad Kousser. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 288p. $ 70.00 cloth, $29.99 paper. Thad Kousser is interested in both term limits and legislative professionalism because they effect fundamental changes in the environment in which lawmakers work. Drawing upon Richard Fenno's paradigm, the author assumes that legislators will behave rationally, seeking to maximize their ability to win elections, affect policy, and gain influence in their chambers. How, he asks, do legislative professionalism and term limits alter the ways in which legislators do “transformative” work: 1) change budgets and 2) innovate in pursuance of their goals? And how do the alterations in the “internal power dynamics” of legislatures resulting from these reforms—3) the stability of leadership, 4) the independence of committees, and 5) the capacity for individual achievement—shape members' goal-seeking behavior?
MBL2 Variations and Malaria Susceptibility in Indian Populations

ABSTRACT Human mannose-binding lectin (MBL) encoded by the MBL2 gene is a pattern recognition protein and has been associated with many infectious diseases, including malaria. We sought to investigate the contribution of functional MBL2 gene variations to Plasmodium falciparum malaria in well-defined cases and in matched controls. We resequenced the 8.7 kb of the entire MBL2 gene in 434 individuals clinically classified with malaria from regions of India where malaria is endemic. The study cohort included 176 patients with severe malaria, 101 patients with mild malaria, and 157 ethnically matched asymptomatic individuals. In addition, 830 individuals from 32 socially, linguistically, and geographically diverse endogamous populations of India were investigated for the distribution of functional MBL2 variants. The MBL2 −221C (X) allelic variant is associated with increased risk of malaria (mild malaria odds ratio [OR] = 1.9, corrected P value [P Corr] = 0.0036; severe malaria OR = 1.6, P Corr = 0.02). The exon1 variants MBL2*B (severe malaria OR = 2.1, P Corr = 0.036; mild versus severe malaria OR = 2.5, P Corr = 0.039) and MBL2*C (mild versus severe malaria OR = 5.4, P Corr = 0.045) increased the odds of having malaria. The exon1 MBL2*D/*B/*C variant increased the risk for severe malaria (OR = 3.4, P Corr = 0.000045). The frequencies of low MBL haplotypes were significantly higher in severe malaria (14.2%) compared to mild malaria (7.9%) and asymptomatic (3.8%). The MBL2*LYPA haplotypes confer protection, whereas MBL2*LXPA increases the malaria risk. Our findings in Indian populations demonstrate that MBL2 functional variants are strongly associated with malaria and infection severity.
Prevalence and Determinants of Chronic Malnutrition among Preschool Children: A Cross-sectional Study in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Chronic malnutrition is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among preschool children and the future productivity of nations. To understand the prevalence of chronic malnutrition and to identify the factors affecting height-for-age z-score (HAZ) among preschool children, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 380 randomly-selected children aged less than five years in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Results of analysis of this study data revealed that the prevalence of stunting among preschool children in Dhaka city was 39.5%, with 25% severely stunted and 14% moderately stunted (p<0.001). Results of bivariate analysis revealed that socioeconomic and demographic factors were most significantly associated with the stunting of children. Children were found to be well-nourished if their parents had a tertiary-level education or higher and if the mother held a job and had good knowledge of nutrition. Well-nourishment of the children were also associated with the height of mothers (above 148 cm), good family educational background, normal birthweight, greater frequency of food intake (more than six times/day), and fewer fever episodes in the last six months. Results of multivariate linear regression models showed that height of mothers, birthweight of children, education of fathers, knowledge of mothers on nutrition, and frequency of feeding were the most significant factors that had an independent and direct influence on the stunting of children. To achieve the Millennium Development Goal target of 34% malnutrition prevalence by 2015, it is important to have specific government intervention to focus on the causes that directly influence the stunting of children.
A theory of risk colonization: The spiralling regulatory logics of societal and institutional risk

Abstract Explanations of the growing importance of risk to regulation identify three processes; the need to respond to newly created and discovered risks; the growth of regulatory frameworks; and the use of the risk instrument as an organizing idea for decision-making in modernity. Synthesizing these explanations, we propose a theory of risk colonization. We introduce a distinction between societal and institutional risks, the former referring to threats to members of society and their environment, and the latter referring to threats to regulatory organizations and/or the legitimacy of rules and methods of regulation. We argue that pressures towards greater coherence, transparency, and accountability of the regulation of societal risks can create institutional risks by exposing the inevitable limitations of regulation. In the first stage of risk colonization, framing the objects of regulation as ‘risks’ serves as a useful instrument for reflexively managing the associated institutional threats. This can be followed, in a second stage, by a dynamic tension between the management of societal and institutional risks that results in spiralling feedback loops. The very process of regulating societal risks gives rise to institutional risks, the management of which sensitizes regulators to take account of societal risks in different ways. We discuss links between this theory and the concept of governmentality and conclude with some speculations about the possible positive and negative consequences of risk colonization.
1 Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics Children in Need of Medical Innovation

A R E pplied conomics esearch in 2 If you think research is expensive, try disease Summary: Children are therapeutic orphans and an underprivileged group in innovations derived from drug therapy. As the innovation process of pharmaceuticals is a long, risky and very costly business, economists typically emphasise lack of profit incentives and small market size as the most important obstacles to child-related innovative activity. Moreover, as new drugs need to be tested in medical trials, there are ethical concerns leading to a climate of reluctance towards medical trials on persons who are not able to give their " informed consent ". Particularly in Germany, due to various reasons, a rather restrictive legislation is to be assumed, characterized by the idea of putting the protection of the individual human being before a more utilitarian view. Thus, economic incentives, legal restrictions and ethical concerns seem to be responsible for the lack of innovative activity targeted at drugs for children, though social cost-benefit considerations (i.e. welfare analysis) would most probably predict a high gain from the introduction of critical innovations. Grounded on a highly interdisciplinary view based on medical, pharmaceutical, psychopharmaceutical, psychotherapeutic and economic research as well as on ethical restrictions, this survey aims at analysing channels of influence that might be helpful both in the analysis of the innovation process of drugs for children, and in improving the uncertain situation of pediatric therapy.
Ca(2+)‐induced Ca2+ release and its activation in response to a single action potential in rabbit otic ganglion cells.

1. Ryanodine‐sensitive intracellular Ca2+ release activated by Ca2+ entry was studied with fura‐2 fluorescence and intracellular voltage recording techniques in rabbit otic ganglion cells. 2. The removal of extracellular Ca2+ reduced sustained, transient or oscillatory rises in intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) induced at high extracellular K+ and abolished the [Ca2+]i oscillation in cultured neurones. 3. Ryanodine (10 microM) transiently increased [Ca2+]i and reduced the amplitude and rate of rise of the high‐K(+)‐induced rise in [Ca2+]i, while caffeine (5 mM) produced a few transient rises in [Ca2+]i in most cultured cells and [Ca2+]i oscillation only in one cell. 4. The two components of the slow after‐hyperpolarization (AHP) of an action potential in neurones of freshly isolated ganglia were dependent on extracellular Ca2+ and abolished by Ca2+ channel blockers, Cd2+ or Co2+. 5. The late component of AHP (LAHP), but not the initial component, in ‘fresh’ neurones increased in area with an increase in the preceding interval, was abolished by ryanodine (10 microM) and intracellularly injected EGTA, and mimicked by intracellular injection of Ca2+. 6. A ryanodine‐sensitive Ca(2+)‐induced Ca2+ release thus exists, operates in response to an action potential‐induced Ca2+ entry and underlies LAHP in rabbit otic ganglion cells.
Correlated Coding of Motivation and Outcome of Decision by Dopamine Neurons

We recorded the activity of midbrain dopamine neurons in an instrumental conditioning task in which monkeys made a series of behavioral decisions on the basis of distinct reward expectations. Dopamine neurons responded to the first visual cue that appeared in each trial [conditioned stimulus (CS)] through which monkeys initiated trial for decision while expecting trial-specific reward probability and volume. The magnitude of neuronal responses to the CS was approximately proportional to reward expectations but with considerable discrepancy. In contrast, CS responses appear to represent motivational properties, because their magnitude at trials with identical reward expectation had significant negative correlation with reaction times of the animal after the CS. Dopamine neurons also responded to reinforcers that occurred after behavioral decisions, and the responses precisely encoded positive and negative reward expectation errors (REEs). The gain of coding REEs by spike frequency increased during learning act-outcome contingencies through a few months of task training, whereas coding of motivational properties remained consistent during the learning. We found that the magnitude of CS responses was positively correlated with that of reinforcers, suggesting a modulation of the effectiveness of REEs as a teaching signal by motivation. For instance, rate of learning could be faster when animals are motivated, whereas it could be slower when less motivated, even at identical REEs. Therefore, the dual correlated coding of motivation and REEs suggested the involvement of the dopamine system, both in reinforcement in more elaborate ways than currently proposed and in motivational function in reward-based decision-making and learning.
Perception of the Argumentativeness Trait in Interpersonal Relationship Situations.

The desired association with argumentative or nonargumentative individuals in inter-personal relationships was assessed using the Infante and Rancer (1982) Scale of Argumentativeness. Seven potential areas of social interaction were presented to college students ( N = 420) to judge their likelihood of desired interaction with an argumentative or nonargumentative person. Factor analysis revealed two primary dimensions: social-emotional , involving heavy reliance on social interaction, and negotiator/ombudsman , requiring interaction where one might serve as agent for another. Results indicated that these 2 dimensions account for almost half (48%) the variance of the decisional structure used in opting to associate with argumentative or nonargumentative others. There was a preference for association with a nonargumentative person in situations, which are low in conflict and nonaggressive. Also, males and females respond in a similar fashion in reporting their preferences to associate with argumentative or nonargumentative persons in various interpersonal situations.
Examining primary schools' physical education coordinators' pedagogical content knowledge of games: are we just playing as this?

A detailed insight into how the current educational climate influences the pedagogical decisions made by primary school teachers when teaching games is limited. Studies examining the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teachers within physical education have revealed its close relationship with specific forms of subject knowledge. In recognition of this, Veal and MaKinster's framework of general, domain and topic-specific PCK was employed to examine 12 primary school teachers' PCK of games. It was concluded that when personal experiences of pedagogy and content knowledge are unchallenged and reinforced by teachers' training and continuing professional development (CPD) programmes, very narrow topic-specific PCK results. This PCK was characterised bythe inseparable paring of constricted pedagogical strategies and limited content knowledge. When teachers do not integrate this very narrow topic-specific PCK with other types of PCK, it has significant repercussions upon the planned curriculum and learning experiences offered to pupils.
Behçet's disease in Brazil--a review of 49 cases with emphasis on ophthalmic manifestations.

At the Uveitis Clinic of the Department of Ophthalmology of the Escola Paulista de Medicina, São Paulo, Brazil, Behçet's disease was diagnosed in 49 patients, representing 2.0% of the total uveitis cases attended during the 16-year period from February 1974 to June 1990. Of these, 71% were men. The age of onset of the disease was between 9 and 61 years, with a mean of 29.6 years. The ethnic distribution was the following: 76% Caucasian, 14% darkly pigmented, 8% Mongoloid and 2% Negroid. HLA-B5 was found in 45.5% of the 11 Caucasian patients typed. In 34.5% of the cases, the ocular attack was the initial manifestation, alone or associated with other symptoms. Oral aphthae were recorded in 98% of the patients, genital ulcers in 55.1%, and skin lesions in 51%. Joint involvement was present in 44.9%, neurologic symptoms were evidenced in 3 patients, and 2 patients had major vascular involvement. The mean interval between the first manifestation of the disease and the onset of ocular involvement was 3.1 years, with a range of 4 months to 14 years. The interval between affections of both eyes ranged from 0 to 2 years; in 38.4% of the cases it occurred within one month. Anterior and posterior segment involvement was seen in 85.7% of the patients. Hypopyon was observed in 34.7% of the cases. Seven patients did not present iridocyclitis at any time in the course of their disease. We did not see any cases with only anterior segment involvement. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Pharmacokinetics of minoxidil in patients with cirrhosis and healthy volunteers

Objectives: To determine the effect of reduced hepatic function on the pharmacokinetics of minoxidil. The pharmacokinetics of antipyrine, lorazepam, and indocyanine green were included as indicators of hepatic function. Methods: Eight mild cirrhotics and eight healthy subjects received antipyrine (po), lorazepam (IV), indocyanine green (IV) and minoxidil 5 mg (po). Blood and urine were sampled for up to 72 h after each drug, and drug concentrations were measured by validated HPLC methods. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured for safety. Results: For unchanged minoxidil, the serum elimination rate constant was significantly smaller and mean residence time was significantly longer in cirrhotic patients. Urinary elimination rate constant for minoxidil glucuronide was significantly smaller and fraction of dose excreted in urine was significantly higher in cirrhotic patients. Antipyrine elimination was significantly slower for cirrhotic patients. No differences were observed in lorazepam pharmacokinetic parameters. Conclusion: Pharmacokinetic analysis suggests a longer dosage interval may be appropriate in patients with hepatic impairment. In the absence of multiple‐dose minoxidil pharmacodynamic studies in this population, minoxidil should be used as in other populations: begin with a modest dose, and adjust the dose based on clinical response. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Multimodal Imaging of Integrin Receptor-Positive Tumors by Bioluminescence, Fluorescence, Gamma Scintigraphy, and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography Using a Cyclic RGD Peptide Labeled with a Near-Infrared Fluorescent Dye and a Radionuclide

Integrins, particularly the αvβ3 heterodimers, play important roles in tumor-induced angiogenesis and invasiveness. To image the expression pattern of the αvβ3 integrin in tumors through a multimodality imaging paradigm, we prepared a cyclic RGDyK peptide analogue (LS308) bearing a tetraazamacrocycle 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N, N′, N″, N‴-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) and a lipophilic near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye cypate. The αvβ3 integrin binding affinity and the internalization properties of LS308 mediated by the αvβ3 integrin in 4t1luc cells were investigated by receptor binding assay and fluorescence microscopy, respectively. The in vivo distribution of 111In-labeled LS308 in a 4t1luc tumor-bearing mouse model was studied by fluorescence, bioluminescence, planar gamma, and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The results show that LS308 has high affinity for αvβ3 integrin and internalized preferentially via the αvβ3 integrin-mediated endocytosis in 4t1luc cells. We also found that LS308 selectively accumulated in αvβ3-positve tumors in a receptor-specific manner and was visualized by the four imaging methods. Whereas the endogenous bioluminescence imaging identified the ensemble of the tumor tissue, the fluorescence and SPECT methods with the exogenous contrast agent LS308 reported the local expression of αvβ3 integrin. Thus, the multimodal imaging approach could provide important complementary diagnostic information for monitoring the efficacy of new antiangiogenic drugs.