Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What is stable pain control? A prospective longitudinal study to assess the clinical value of a personalized pain goal

Background: A universal consensus regarding standardized pain outcomes does not exist. The personalized pain goal has been suggested as a clinically relevant outcome measure. Aim: To assess the feasibility of obtaining a personalized pain goal and to compare a clinically based personalized pain goal definition versus a research-based study definition for stable pain. Design: Prospective longitudinal descriptive study. Measures: The attending physician completed routine assessments, including a personalized pain goal and the Edmonton Classification System for Cancer Pain, and followed patients daily until stable pain control, death, or discharge. Stable pain for cognitively intact patients was defined as pain intensity less than or equal to desired pain intensity goal (personalized pain goal definition) or pain intensity ⩽3 (Edmonton Classification System for Cancer Pain study definition) for three consecutive days with <3 breakthroughs per day. Setting/participants: A total of 300 consecutive advanced cancer patients were recruited from two acute care hospitals and a tertiary palliative care unit. Results: In all, 231/300 patients (77%) had a pain syndrome; 169/231 (73%) provided a personalized pain goal, with 113/169 (67%) reporting a personalized pain goal ⩽3 (median = 3, range = 0–10). Using the personalized pain goal definition as the gold standard, sensitivity and specificity of the Edmonton Classification System for Cancer Pain definition were 71.3% and 98.5%, respectively. For mild (0–3), moderate (4–6), and severe (7–10) pain, the highest sensitivity was for moderate pain (90.5%), with high specificity across all three categories (95%–100%). Conclusion: The personalized pain goal is a feasible outcome measure for cognitively intact patients. The Edmonton Classification System for Cancer Pain definition closely resembles patient-reported personalized pain goals for stable pain and would be appropriate for research purposes. For clinical pain management, it would be important to include the personalized pain goal as standard practice.
Analysis of the limited M. tuberculosis accessory genome reveals potential pitfalls of pan-genome analysis approaches

Pan-genome analysis is a fundamental tool in the study of bacterial genome evolution. Benchmarking the accuracy of pan-genome analysis methods is challenging, because it can be significantly influenced by both the methodology used to compare genomes, as well as differences in the accuracy and representativeness of the genomes analyzed. In this work, we curated a collection of 151 Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) isolates to evaluate sources of variability in pan-genome analysis. Mtb is characterized by its clonal evolution, absence of horizontal gene transfer, and limited accessory genome, making it an ideal test case for this study. Using a state-of-the-art graph-genome approach, we found that a majority of the structural variation observed in Mtb originates from rearrangement, deletion, and duplication of redundant nucleotide sequences. In contrast, we found that pan-genome analyses that focus on comparison of coding sequences (at the amino acid level) can yield surprisingly variable results, driven by differences in assembly quality and the softwares used. Upon closer inspection, we found that coding sequence annotation discrepancies were a major contributor to inflated Mtb accessory genome estimates. To address this, we developed panqc, a software that detects annotation discrepancies and collapses nucleotide redundancy in pan-genome estimates. We characterized the effect of the panqc adjustment on both pan-genome analysis of Mtb and E. coli genomes, and highlight how different levels of genomic diversity are prone to unique biases. Overall, this study illustrates the need for careful methodological selection and quality control to accurately map the evolutionary dynamics of a bacterial species.
Do you feel inferior to the staff of the psychiatric services in conversations ?

Declaration of interest The study was supported bygrants fromtheVardal Foundation,Sweden (V2001141). Negative attitudes exist in society towards people with mental illness. Discrimination occurs across every aspect of social and economic existence. Research has documented stigmatisation and its negative consequences for people with mental illnesses (Farina, 1982; Link et al, 1987). Stigma is defined as a sign of disgrace or discredit that sets a person apart from others. Goffman (1963), a sociological researcher with an interest in psychiatric stigma, defined stigma in terms of undesirable ‘deeply discrediting’ attributes that ‘disqualify one from full social acceptance’ and motivate efforts by the stigmatised individual to hide the mark when possible. However, he also commented that the difference between a normal and a stigmatised person was a question of perspective, not reality, and that stigma is in the eye of the beholder. A more recent definition has been proposed by Link & Phelan (2001) in which stigma exists when elements of labelling, stereotyping, separating, status loss and discrimination co-occur in a power situation that allows these processes to unfold.
Effect of cigarette smoking on liver functions: a comparative study conducted among smokers and non-smokers male in El-beida City, Libya

Tobacco use is widely spread throughout the world. The effect of smoking on human health are serious and in many cases, deadly. The present study was done to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on some liver functions in male population in El-beida city, Libya. The study was carried out on thirty Libyan male smokers, who smoked at least 10 cigarettes per day for at least15 years. The group includes smokers with age range between 30-60 years. Non-smokers, (control, n= 30) group were collected with the same range of age for statistical comparison. The whole blood samples were drawn by venipuncture from each member and liver functions test were estimated by a kit method on automatic analyzer (Beckman BUN analyzer, USA). The results of the study revealed a significant increase of malondialdehyde (MDA), which is an indicator of lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress significantly increased in cigarette smokers in groups when compared with control group. While the plasma level of total protein, albumin and total bilirubin decreased during smoking. Cigarette smoking raised alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), plasma total cholesterol and triglycerides in smoker group when compared with non-smoker group. To conclude, cigarette smoking leads to oxidative stress by free radical generation by the mechanism of lipid peroxidation. Smoking exerts negative influence on liver functions test should be carefully interpreted, and further study on the mechanism of the effects is warranted. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/icpj.v3i7. 19077 International Current Pharmaceutical Journal, June 2014, 3(7): 291-295
Latino Attitudes toward Various Areas of Public Policy

The growth of the Latino population and the increasing political importance of this group leads to questions about the potential political importance of this group. As such, it is important to gain a better understanding of political attitudes among Latinos. This study focuses on the relationship between Latino acculturation and attitudes toward immigration-and non-immigration-related public policies. The results indicate that Latino attitudes toward immigration related issues as well as other more general policy items vary as a function of one's level of acculturation.
Osteosarcomas of jaw: Experience of a single centre

Abstract Although osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant tumour of bone, osteosarcomas of jaw are rare. In osteosarcomas of jaw, evaluating the clinicopathological factors affecting the prognosis is not easy because of different approaches to diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. This study reviewed 14 cases of JOS that were diagnosed between 1990–2010, in terms of age, gender, site, clinical history, histopathologic type and histopathologic grade, treatment, and prognosis. Median age was 35 years, while male:female ratio was 1.8:1. Eight tumours were located in the mandible. Osteoblastic differentiation was the predominant feature in seven cases followed by chondroid osteosarcoma (four cases), fibroblastic osteosarcoma, low-grade (parosteal) osteosarcoma associated with fibrous dysplasia, and postradiation osteosarcoma (one cases each). During follow-up, recurrence was seen in four patients at least once and they all died. In conclusion, early diagnosis and complete resection seems to be effective in prognosis. Therefore, clinicians and pathologists should be aware of its characteristics and main differential diagnosis to avoid late recognition.
Muslims in China: the social and economic situation of the Hui Chinese

This paper surveys the Muslim Chinese, the Hui, as a minority ethnic group in their social interaction with the non‐Muslim Chinese, the Han, in China. The findings show that the Hui in China remain a marginalized group with little influence on the political and economic affairs in China. It is also confirmed that since Islam is practised as a comprehensive way of life, which is different from the non‐Muslim Chinese ways, the Han majority recognize the Hui only as a minority ethnic group. The paper examines three phases of relationships between the Muslim Hui and the non‐Muslim Han. First, there is peaceful co‐existence between the two groups while the Hui resist the great force of assimilation and acculturation of non‐Muslim ways. In the second phase there is intensification of discrimination and persecution of the Hui by the non‐Muslim Chinese who perceive them as a threat, and both parties entertain mutual stereotypes, suspicion and hostilities. In the third phase, the Muslim Chinese cannot take the pressure of the intensified prejudice, persecution and discrimination, and so they revolt against the Han. These three kinds of relationships continue to exist between the Muslim Hui and the non‐Muslim Han in China depending on the delicate and complex situations of the two groups in various parts of contemporary China.
Cellular Basis of the T Wave: A Century of Controversy

The ECG is one of the oldest and most versatile noninvasive cardiac diagnostic tests. It has remained in use essentially in its original form despite dramatic advances in cardiac electrophysiology. In May 1887, Augustus Desire Waller recorded the first human Electrogram using a primitive instrument called a Libbmann capillary electrometer. It had 2 deflections corresponding to ventricular depolarization and repolarization.1 In 1903, Willem Einthoven invented the String Galvanometer—a more sophisticated voltage recording instrument and recorded an Elektrokardiogramm with 5 deflections that he named PQRST.2 Response by Opthof et al p 80 Since its initial invention, the body surface ECG has become a commonly used and extremely valuable test for the diagnosis of a variety of cardiac conditions. Despite a century of prolific use and intensive investigation, the cellular basis of ECG waveforms, particularly the T wave, remains a matter of debate. The saga of the T wave began in 1856, when 2 German physiologists Kolliker and Muller attempted to explore the electric activity of the heart using frog sciatic nerve attached to gastroenemius muscle as a voltage recording instrument and observed 2 contractions (see review by Noble and Cohen3). In retrospect, the second “contraction” probably reflected a voltage gradient related to the T wave of Einthoven. In 1883, Burdon-Sanderson and Page4 were the first to demonstrate that in the frog’s heart, the wave of excitation spreads from the base to the apex of the ventricle. The record was diphasic, with the first positive (R) wave followed by a negative (T) wave. They also demonstrated that the T wave corresponds to repolarization of the ventricle. Similar series of experiments by Bayliss and Starling in 18925 in the canine heart showed that the T waves are usually upright in mammals. This was followed by Mines6 on …
Persistent gamma oscillations in superficial layers of rat auditory neocortex: experiment and model

Persistent in vitro gamma oscillations, induced by bath application of carbachol and kainate (amongst other drugs), were discovered by Eberhard Buhl and collaborators in 1998. The oscillations are robust, in that they can continue for hours; but the oscillations are also intricate in their mechanisms: they depend upon phasic synaptic excitation and inhibition, upon electrical coupling between interneurones and between pyramidal neurones, and – at least in neocortex – they depend upon complex intrinsic properties of some of the neurones.
Energy-based effective length of the impulse response of a recursive filter

A measure for the effective length of the impulse response of a stable recursive digital filter based on accumulated energy is proposed. A general definition and a simple algorithm for its evaluation are introduced, and closed-form expressions are derived for first-order IIR filters. The effect of zeros on the effective length is analyzed. An upper bound for the effective length of higher-order filters is derived using results for low-order filters. The new measure finds applications in several fields of digital signal processing, including estimation of the extent of attack transients for filters with dynamically varying inputs, elimination of transients in variable recursive filters, and design and implementation of linear-phase IIR systems.
‘University Blues’: Depression among Tertiary Students during an Academic Year

Abstract Depression levels of 148 undergraduates were measured at the beginning and the end of an academic year: 16% were depressed initially; 18% were depressed at the end of the year; 73% were not depressed on either occasion; 7% were depressed on both occasions. The major predictor of students' end-of-year depression levels was initial depression level. Students' scores on an irrational beliefs test and the number of stressful life events experienced were also predictive of end-of-year depression.
Some Dilemmas of 'Modernisation'

THEORIES of ‘modernisation’ are in the main a phenomenon of the post-war social sciences, developed as a response to the characteristics of social change in the post-war world and especially, social changes in the ’Third World’. This paper is an attempt to outline some of the dilemmas inherent in some of these theories, and to present some basic criticisms of their assumptions and concepts. Perspectives on history are necessary as a basis for defining any period. Parsons (1966: 3) proposes a tentative classification of stages of the evolution of societies, from the primitive through the intermediate to the modern. Such a classification is
Quality Control and Analytical Test Method for Taxus baccata Tincture Preparation

The homeopathic tincture of Taxus baccata L. is monographed in the current German Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia (HAB 2009). However, the described identification test is a common comparative TLC procedure that might be updated. The purpose of the current work was the quali-quantitative analysis by HPLC/DAD/MS of Taxus tincture. In this study we characterized polyphenolic compounds, in particular four hydroxycinnamic derivatives (0.85 mg/mL) and four flavonoids (quercetin and kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside and xylosyl glucosides); the total polyphenol content was 1.265 mg/mL of tincture. Starting from the official German Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia method of preparation, the aim of this work was to optimize a rapid and reproducible method for the analysis of herbal drugs and tincture, directly prepared in store or the herbalist's shop, to ensure safety and efficacy of the preparation. The procedure has to ensure validation, robustness of the results, and provide a quick response about the composition of compounds in the herbal drug preparation.
From the Enemy's Point of View: Humanity and Divinity in an Amazonian Society

The Arawete are one of the few Amazonian peoples who have maintained their cultural integrity in the face of the destructive forces of European imperialism. In this landmark study, anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro explains this phenomenon in terms of Arawete social cosmology and ritual order. His analysis of the social and religious life of the Arawete --a Tupi-Guarani people of Eastern Amazonia--focuses on their concepts of personhood, death, and divinity.Building upon ethnographic description and interpretation, Viveiros de Castro addresses the central aspect of the Arawete's concept of divinity--consumption--showing how its cannibalistic expression differs radically from traditional representations of other Amazonian societies. He situates the Arawete in contemporary anthropology as a people whose vision of the world is complex, tragic, and dynamic, and whose society commands our attention for its extraordinary openness to exteriority and transformation. For the Arawete the person is always in transition, an outlook expressed in the mythology of their gods, whose cannibalistic ways they imitate. "From the Enemy's Point of View" argues that current concepts of society as a discrete, bounded entity which maintains a difference between "interior" and "exterior" are wholly inappropriate in this and in many other Amazonian societies.
Genome-Wide Gene Expression Analysis Shows AKAP13-Mediated PKD1 Signaling Regulates the Transcriptional Response to Cardiac Hypertrophy

In the heart, scaffolding proteins such as A-Kinase Anchoring Proteins (AKAPs) play a crucial role in normal cellular function by serving as a signaling hub for multiple protein kinases including protein kinase D1 (PKD1). Under cardiac hypertrophic conditions AKAP13 anchored PKD1 activates the transcription factor MEF2 leading to subsequent fetal gene activation and hypertrophic response. We used an expression microarray to identify the global transcriptional response in the hearts of wild-type mice expressing the native form of AKAP13 compared to a gene-trap mouse model expressing a truncated form of AKAP13 that is unable to bind PKD1 (AKAP13-ΔPKD1). Microarray analysis showed that AKAP13-ΔPKD1 mice broadly failed to exhibit the transcriptional profile normally associated with compensatory cardiac hypertrophy following trans-aortic constriction (TAC). The identified differentially expressed genes in WT and AKAP13-ΔPKD1 hearts are vital for the compensatory hypertrophic response to pressure-overload and include myofilament, apoptotic, and cell growth/differentiation genes in addition to genes not previously identified as affected by AKAP13-anchored PKD1. Our results show that AKAP13-PKD1 signaling is critical for transcriptional regulation of key contractile, cell death, and metabolic pathways during the development of compensatory hypertrophy in vivo.
Trends in mental health and substance abuse services at the nation's community health centers: 1998-2003.

OBJECTIVE We examined trends in delivery of mental health and substance abuse services at the nation's community health centers. METHODS Analyses used data from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Primary Care's (BPHC) 1998 and 2003 Uniform Data System, merged with county-level data. RESULTS Between 1998 and 2003, the number of patients diagnosed with a mental health/substance abuse disorder in community health centers increased from 210,000 to 800,000. There was an increase in the number of patients per specialty mental health/substance abuse treatment provider and a decline in the mean number of patient visits, from 7.3 visits per patient to 3.5 by 2003. Although most community health centers had some on-site mental health/substance abuse services, centers without on-site services were more likely to be located in counties with fewer mental health/substance abuse clinicians, psychiatric emergency rooms, and inpatient hospitals. CONCLUSIONS Community health centers are playing an increasingly central role in providing mental health/substance abuse treatment services in the United States. It is critical both to ensure that these centers have adequate resources for providing mental health/substance abuse care and that they develop effective linkages with mental health/substance abuse clinicians in the communities they serve.
In vitro studies of mitochondrial and sarcoplasmic reticulum function in muscle of stress susceptible pigs.

Seven stress susceptible (SS) and six stress resistant (SR) pigs were identified by response to halothane anesthesia. Mitochondria and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum fragments were isolated from biopsies of the semimembranosus muscle. The muscle pH was significantly lower (P<.01) in the SS pigs compared to the SR pigs at biopsy. The mitochondrial respiratory traits, state 3 and state 4 respiration, respiratory control index and ADP/0 ratio, however, were not significantly different (P>.05) for the two groups of pigs. Mitochondrial ATPase activity and sarcoplasmic reticulum Mg-ATPase activity were not significantly different (P>.05) for the muscles of SS and SR pigs. The MgCa-ATPase activity of sarcoplasmic reticulum isolated from the muscle of SS pigs was significantly higher (P<.01) than that observed for SR pigs. No differences (P>.05) in mean values for pH, percentage reflectance and percentage transmission values of the longissimus muscle were observed between the SS and SR pigs, but greater variation in values for these traits was observed in muscle from SS pigs. (
Mitochondrial haplogroups associated with elite Japanese athlete status

Purpose It has been hypothesised that certain mitochondrial haplogroups, which are defined by the presence of a characteristic cluster of tightly linked mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms, would be associated with elite Japanese athlete status. To examine this hypothesis, the frequencies of mitochondrial haplogroups found in elite Japanese athletes were compared with those in the general Japanese population. Methods Subjects comprised 139 Olympic athletes (79 endurance/middle-power athletes (EMA), 60 sprint/power athletes (SPA)) and 672 controls (CON). Two mitochondrial DNA fragments containing the hypervariable sequence I (m16024–m16383) of the major non-coding region and the polymorphic site at m.5178C>A within the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 gene were sequenced, and subjects were classified into 12 major mitochondrial haplogroups (ie, F, B, A, N9a, N9b, M7a, M7b, M*, G2, G1, D5 or D4). The mitochondrial haplogroup frequency differences among EMA, SPA and CON were then examined. Results EMA showed an excess of haplogroup G1 (OR 2.52, 95% CI 1.05 to 6.02, p=0.032), with 8.9% compared with 3.7% in CON, whereas SPA displayed a greater proportion of haplogroup F (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.28 to 6.07, p=0.007), with 15.0% compared with 6.0% in CON. Conclusions The results suggest that mitochondrial haplogroups G1 and F are associated with elite EMA and SPA status in Japanese athletes, respectively.