Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Development and Validation of an Outcome Measure for Spiritual Healing: A Mixed Methods Study

Background: Spiritual healing, probably the oldest documented paramedical intervention, is a neglected area of research. In order to conduct further research into the effects of healing, a valid and reliable outcome measure is needed that captures the experience of individuals receiving healing (healees) and is not burdensome to complete. We aimed to develop such a measure. Methods: A mixed methods design was used. Focus groups and cognitive interviews were used to generate and refine questionnaire items grounded in the experiences and language of healees (Study 1). The resulting questionnaire was tested and its formal psychometric properties were evaluated (Study 2). Participants were recruited from a spiritual healing sanctuary and via individual healers (including registered spiritual healers, Reiki practitioners, healers affiliated with churches). Results: In Study 1, 24 participants took part in 7 focus groups and 6 cognitive interviews. 29 common effects were identified and grouped into 7 discrete dimensions that appeared to characterize potentially sustainable effects reported by participants following their experiences of spiritual healing. In Study 2, 393 participants returned completed baseline questionnaires, 243 of whom completed the questionnaire again 1–6 weeks later. Exploratory factor analysis generated 5 subscales, based on 20 of the items: outlook, energy, health, relationships and emotional balance. These subscales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, convergent validity and test-retest reliability. Three of the subscales and the whole questionnaire demonstrated good sensitivity to change. Conclusions: We have produced a psychometrically sound healing impact questionnaire that is acceptable to healees, healers and researchers for use in future evaluations of spiritual healing.
The cellular composition of neurogenic periventricular zones in the adult zebrafish forebrain

A central goal of adult neurogenesis research is to characterize the cellular constituents of a neurogenic niche and to understand how these cells regulate the production of new neurons. Because the generation of adult‐born neurons may be tightly coupled to their functional requirement, the organization and output of neurogenic niches may vary across different regions of the brain or between species. We have undertaken a comparative study of six (D, Vd, Vv, Dm, Dl, Ppa) periventricular zones (PVZs) harboring proliferative cells present in the adult forebrain of the zebrafish (Danio rerio), a species known to possess widespread neurogenesis throughout life. Using electron microscopy, we have documented for the first time the detailed cytoarchitecture of these zones, and propose a model of the cellular composition of pallial and subpallial PVZs, as well as a classification scheme for identifying morphologically distinct cell types. Immunolabeling of resin‐embedded tissue confirmed the phenotype of three constitutively proliferating (bromodeoxyuridine [BrdU]+) cell populations, including a radial glial‐like (type IIa) cell immunopositive for both S100β and glutamine synthetase (GS). Our data revealed rostrocaudal differences in the density of distinct proliferative populations, and cumulative labeling studies suggested that the cell cycle kinetics of these populations are not uniform between PVZs. Although the peak numbers of differentiated neurons were generated after ∼2 weeks among most PVZs, niche‐specific decline in the number of newborn neurons in some regions occurred after 4 weeks. Our data suggest that the cytoarchitecture of neurogenic niches and the tempo of neuronal production are regionally distinct in the adult zebrafish forebrain. J. Comp. Neurol. 520:2275–2316, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Attentive, Affective, and Adaptive Behavior in the Cat

Lesions of the lateral portion of the upper midbrain, involving medial, lateral, spinal, and trigeminal lemnisci primarily, result in a consistent syndrome of symptoms in the cat. (i) There is a marked sensory deficit, characterized mainly by sensory inattention and poor localization in the tactile, proprioceptive, auditory, gustatory, and nociceptive modalities, where direct pathways are interrupted. Similar defectsappear in vision and olfaction where no known direct or primary paths are interrupted. (ii) These cats are characterized by a lack of affect, showing little or no defensive and aggressive reaction to noxious and aversive situations and no response to pleasurable stimulation or solicitation of affection or petting. The animals are mute, lack facial expression, and show minimal autonomic responses. (iii) They show a hyperexploratory activity characterized by incessant, stereotyped wandering, sniffing, and visual searching, as though hallucinating. This behavior appears to be centrally directed and is very difficult to interrupt with environmental stimuli. (iv) They also demonstrate exaggerated oral activities: they snap in response to tactile stimulation of the lips, seizing and swallowing small objects even if inedible; they overeat; they hold objects too large to swallow (a mouse, a catnip ball) firmly clamped in the mouth for long periods of time; they mount and seize other animals (rat, cat, dog, monkey) by the back or the neck; they lick and chew the hair and skin of the back or tail incessantly when confined in a cage. In interpreting these results we emphasize the view that the syndrome is due chiefly to the extensive, specific, sensory deprivation produced by interruption of the lemnisci at the rostral midbrain. The relation of these findings to the effects of sensory isolation in man and animals, to the effects of midbrain lesions and neodecortication, to parietal lobe syndrome in primates, and to the behavior of autistic children is discussed. It is our belief, from these studies, that the symptoms produced by interruption of the lemnisci, characterized by a high degree of somatotopic and modality localization, are due to a loss of patterned sensory input to the forebrain, particularly to the neocortex and to the rostral midbrain. Without a patterned afferent input to the forebrain via the lemnisci, the remaining portions of the central nervous system, which include a virtually intact reticular formation, seem incapable of elaborating a large part of the animal's repertoire of adaptive behavior (45).
Clinical and economic analysis of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic among pregnant Korean women

Background/Aims Unlike Western countries, the 2009 pandemic influenza infection among pregnant women was reported as mild in a previous interim study in South Korea. However, several mortalities were reported thereafter, suggesting that nationwide data were lacking. Methods This case-control study covers the entire 2009 pandemic inf luenza period, from May 2009 to February 2010. The clinical and economic data of pregnant (case) and age-matched non-pregnant (control) women with influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 virus (H1N1pdm09) infection were retrospectively collected from nine hospitals in South Korea. Results A total of 130 pregnant women with H1N1pdm09 infection were identified. The mean age of the pregnant women was 31.1 years (range, 19 to 41) and mean gestational age was 18.4 weeks (range, 3 to 40). Both case and control groups were similar in terms of age (p = 0.43) and comorbidities (p = 0.18). The overall rate of complications was comparable between the two groups (p = 0.648). However, mortality was reported only among the cases, so mean economic per capita burden is estimated to be higher for pregnant women compared to the control (4,821,992 Korean won [KRW] vs. 351,233 KRW, p = 0.31). Obstetric complications were observed in 12 cases, including preterm labor (n = 7), low birth-weight (n = 3), miscarriage (n = 1), stillbirth (n = 1), and cleft lip (n = 1). Conclusions Although statistically insignificant, the detrimental impact of influenza A H1N1pdm09 on pregnancy can be serious in some complicated cases in South Korea. Thus, the strong recommendation of influenza vaccination should be maintained for pregnant women as a high priority.
“Replicated” genome wide association for dependence on illegal substances: Genomic regions identified by overlapping clusters of nominally positive SNPs

Declaring “replication” from results of genome wide association (GWA) studies is straightforward when major gene effects provide genome‐wide significance for association of the same allele of the same SNP in each of multiple independent samples. However, such unambiguous replication may be unlikely when phenotypes display polygenic genetic architecture, allelic heterogeneity, locus heterogeneity, and when different samples display linkage disequilibria with different fine structures. We seek chromosomal regions that are tagged by clustered SNPs that display nominally significant association in each of several independent samples. This approach provides one “nontemplate” approach to identifying overall replication of groups of GWA results in the face of difficult genetic architectures. We apply this strategy to 1 million (1M) SNP Affymetrix and Illumina GWA results for dependence on illegal substances. This approach provides high confidence in rejecting the null hypothesis that chance alone accounts for the extent to which clustered, nominally significant SNPs from samples of the same racial/ethnic background identify the same chromosomal regions. There is more modest confidence in: (a) identification of individual chromosomal regions and genes and (b) overlap between results from samples of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. The strong overlap identified among the samples with similar racial/ethnic backgrounds, together with prior work that identified overlapping results in samples of different racial/ethnic backgrounds, support contributions to individual differences in vulnerability to addictions that come from both relatively older allelic variants that are common in many current human populations and newer allelic variants that are common in fewer current human populations. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Respiratory effects of air pollution on children

A substantial proportion of the global burden of disease is directly or indirectly attributable to exposure to air pollution. Exposures occurring during the periods of organogenesis and rapid lung growth during fetal development and early post‐natal life are especially damaging. In this State of the Art review, we discuss air toxicants impacting on children's respiratory health, routes of exposure with an emphasis on unique pathways relevant to young children, methods of exposure assessment and their limitations and the adverse health consequences of exposures. Finally, we point out gaps in knowledge and research needs in this area. A greater understanding of the adverse health consequences of exposure to air pollution in early life is required to encourage policy makers to reduce such exposures and improve human health. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016;51:94–108. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nuclear surveillance of RNA polymerase II transcripts

Transcripts of RNA polymerase II undergo several processing events in the cell nucleus before they can be exported to the cytoplasm as functional mRNAs that code for proteins. This complexity of post-transcriptional events renders eukaryotic RNA processing prone to errors that may be harmful or even fatal, and requires mechanisms that control the quality of the processed transcript. The elimination of transcripts harboring premature termination codons (PTCs) is particularly important, because they might code for defective and harmful proteins. Two nuclear mechanisms through which PTCs are eliminated by alternative splicing are addressed. One is the nonsense-mediated altered splicing (NAS), and the other is the stop codon mediated suppression of splicing (SOS). A question pertaining both mechanisms is how a protein reading frame can be recognized in the cell nucleus prior to splicing? A speculative model, based on the structure of the supraspliceosome, is presented to explain this enigma.
Meeting Deadlines of Scientific Workflows in Public Clouds with Tasks Replication

The elasticity of Cloud infrastructures makes them a suitable platform for execution of deadline-constrained workflow applications, because resources available to the application can be dynamically increased to enable application speedup. Existing research in execution of scientific workflows in Clouds either try to minimize the workflow execution time ignoring deadlines and budgets or focus on the minimization of cost while trying to meet the application deadline. However, they implement limited contingency strategies to correct delays caused by underestimation of tasks execution time or fluctuations in the delivered performance of leased public Cloud resources. To mitigate effects of performance variation of resources on soft deadlines of workflow applications, we propose an algorithm that uses idle time of provisioned resources and budget surplus to replicate tasks. Simulation experiments with four well-known scientific workflows show that the proposed algorithm increases the likelihood of deadlines being met and reduces the total execution time of applications as the budget available for replication increases.
Primate Adult Brain Cell Autotransplantation, a Pilot Study in Asymptomatic MPTP-Treated Monkeys

Autologous brain cell transplantation might be useful for repairing lesions and restoring function of the central nervous system. We have demonstrated that adult monkey brain cells, obtained from cortical biopsy and kept in culture for a few weeks, exhibit neural progenitor characteristics that make them useful for brain repair. Following MPTP treatment, primates were dopamine depleted but asymptomatic. Autologous cultured cells were reimplanted into the right caudate nucleus of the donor monkey. Four months after reimplantation, histological analysis by stereology and TH immunolabeling showed that the reimplanted cells successfully survived, bilaterally migrated in the whole striatum, and seemed to have a neuroprotection effect over time. These results may add a new strategy to the field of brain neuroprotection or regeneration and could possibly lead to future clinical applications.
Incorporating Perioperative Point-of-Care Ultrasound as Part of the Anesthesia Residency Curriculum.

OBJECTIVE The purposes of this study were to establish whether implementing a curriculum of perioperative point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the heart and lungs for current in-training anesthesia residents during their required month of cardiac anesthesia was feasible and whether an evaluation tool would demonstrate improvement in the residents' baseline knowledge of POCUS. DESIGN Single-center, prospective, cohort, and observational study. SETTING A tertiary-care, university-affiliated hospital. PARTICIPANTS The study comprised 16 anesthesia residents on their third postgraduate training year during their required cardiac anesthesia rotation. INTERVENTIONS The implementation of a curriculum to educate anesthesia residents in perioperative POCUS of the heart and lungs on patients undergoing elective cardiothoracic procedures that included both theoretical and practical approaches. A 21-question, multiple-choice, electronic-generated test was developed to gauge performance improvement from before ("pretest") to after ("posttest") the 4-week period. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Of the 16 residents, 13 (81.3%) showed improved scores between the pretest and posttest periods after the 4-week rotation. The difference between pretest and posttest mean score was 5 (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that integrating a curriculum dedicated to perioperative POCUS of the heart and lungs as part of the goals and objectives during the rotation of cardiac anesthesia is feasible and that anesthesia residents who received the training proposed by the authors improved their cognitive and technical skills.
Optical simulation of monolithic scintillator detectors using GATE/GEANT4

Much research is being conducted on position-sensitive scintillation detectors for medical imaging, particularly for emission tomography. Monte Carlo simulations play an essential role in many of these research activities. As the scintillation process, the transport of scintillation photons through the crystal(s), and the conversion of these photons into electronic signals each have a major influence on the detector performance; all of these processes may need to be incorporated in the model to obtain accurate results. In this work the optical and scintillation models of the GEANT4 simulation toolkit are validated by comparing simulations and measurements on monolithic scintillator detectors for high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET). We have furthermore made the GEANT4 optical models available within the user-friendly GATE simulation platform (as of version 3.0). It is shown how the necessary optical input parameters can be determined with sufficient accuracy. The results show that the optical physics models of GATE/GEANT4 enable accurate prediction of the spatial and energy resolution of monolithic scintillator PET detectors.
Acute Retinal Necrosis: An Overview

Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) syndrome is a distinct infectious retinitis caused by members of the Herpes virus family. It was first described in 1971 by Urayama et al in 6 patients with acute panuveitis and retinal arteritis progressing to diffuse necrotizing retinitis and lateonset rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Similar findings were subsequently reported, and in 1978 the term ‘‘bilateral acute retinal necrosis’’ was introduced by Young and Bird. In 1994 the Executive Committee of the American Uveitis Society defined the disease not by its causative agents or patient immune status, but by its clinical characteristics and disease course. Diagnostic criteria include: (1) one or more discrete foci of retinal necrosis in the periphery, (2) rapid disease progression in the absence of therapy, (3) circumferential spread, (4) occlusive arteriolar vasculopathy, and (5) a prominent vitreous or anterior chamber inflammatory reaction. Supporting characteristics include optic neuropathy or atrophy, scleritis, and associated pain.
Antiepileptic Potential of Cannabidiol Analogs

Abstract: In audiogenic seizure (AGS) susceptible rats, the acute (intraperitoneal and intravenous) dose‐response effects of (–)‐cannabidiol (CBD) for preventing AGS and for causing rototod neurotoxicity (ROT) were determined. Also, the anti‐AGS and ROT effects of 10 CBD analogs, given in intravenous doses equivalent to the AGS‐ED50 (15 mg/kg) and ROT‐ID50 (31 mg/kg) of CBD, were ascertained. Compared to CBD, (–)‐CBD diacetate and (–)‐4‐(2′‐olivetyl)‐α‐pinene were equally effective whereas (–)‐CBD monomethyl ether, (–)‐CBD dimethyl ether, (–)‐3′‐acetyl‐CBD monoacetate, (+)‐4‐(2′‐olivetyl)‐α‐pinene, (–)‐and (+)‐4‐(6′‐olivetyl)‐α‐pinene, (±)‐AF‐11, and olivetol were less effective anticonvulsants. Except for (–)‐ and (+)‐4‐(2′‐olivetyl)‐α‐pinene and olivetol, all analogs showed less ROT than CBD. Also, CBD and all analogs were not active in tetrahydrocannabinol seizure‐susceptible rabbits, the latter a putative model of cannabinoid psychoactivity in humans. These data suggest anticonvulsant requirements of 2 free phenolic hydroxyl groups, exact positioning of the terpinoid moiety in the resorcinol system and correct stereochemistry. Moreover, findings of separation of anticonvulsant from neurotoxic and psychoactive activities, notably with CBD diacetate, suggest that additional structural modifications of CBD may yield novel antiepileptic drugs.
Occurrence and Characterization of Salmonella Isolated from Large-Scale Breeder Farms in Shandong Province, China

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella spp. isolated from large-scale breeder farms in Shandong Province, China. A total of 63 Salmonella isolates (63/409, 15.4%) were identified from 409 samples collected from five large-scale breeder farms in Shandong Province. These Salmonella isolates were assayed for serotype, antimicrobial susceptibility, prevalence of class 1 integrons, quinolone resistance genes, and β-lactamase genes and subtyped by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Among these isolates, S. Enteritidis (100%) was the predominant serovar, and high antimicrobial resistance rates to nalidixic acid (100.0%), streptomycin (100.0%), ampicillin (98.4%), and erythromycin (93.7%) were observed. All of the isolates carried blaTEM. MLST results showed that only one sequence type (ST11) was identified. Our findings indicated that Salmonella was generally prevalent not only on broiler farms but also on breeder farms.
Interleukin-10 concentration determined by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay is unrepresentative of bioactivity in murine blood.

Two experiments were performed, each using six male and six female C57BL/6J mice collectively ranging from 4 wk to 17 mo of age. Blood was obtained following CO2 anesthesia, and the IL-10 concentration of each serum sample was determined both by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and by bioassay. In the first experiment, mean serum IL-10 immunoactivity was 9.3 pg/ml while the mean bioactivity was 700 times greater, i.e., 6.5 ng/ml. However, the bioassay required sample dilution, which might have released bound cytokine that the ELISA could also detect. In the second experiment, therefore, the ELISA was applied to samples diluted to 20% as for the bioassay. Nevertheless, the immunoassay continued to detect only a small fraction of the serum IL-10 identified by the bioassay (mean values: 32.4 pg/ml vs. 2.6 ng/ml). Although currently the preferred method, the sandwich ELISA is inappropriate for quantification of blood IL-10 concentrations. Moreover, studies of the actions of IL-10 are needed at the concentrations revealed in the blood by bioassay and currently considered supraphysiological.
An advanced glycation endproduct (AGE)‐rich diet promotes accumulation of AGEs in Achilles tendon

Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) accumulate in long‐lived tissue proteins like collagen in bone and tendon causing modification of the biomechanical properties. This has been hypothesized to raise the risk of orthopedic injury such as bone fractures and tendon ruptures. We evaluated the relationship between AGE content in the diet and accumulation of AGEs in weight‐bearing animal Achilles tendon. Two groups of mice (C57BL/6Ntac) were fed with either high‐fat diet low in AGEs high‐fat diet (HFD) (n = 14) or normal diet high in AGEs (ND) (n = 11). AGE content in ND was six to 50‐fold higher than HFD. The mice were sacrificed at week 40 and Achilles and tail tendons were carefully excised to compare weight and nonweight‐bearing tendons. The amount of the AGEs carboxymethyllysine (CML), methylglyoxal‐derived hydroimidazolone (MG‐H1) and carboxyethyllysine (CEL) in Achilles and tail tendon was measured using ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC‐MS/MS) and pentosidine with high‐pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescent detection. AGEs in Achilles tendon were higher than in tail tendon for CML (P < 0.0001), CEL (P < 0.0001), MG‐H1 and pentosidine (for both ND and HFD) (P < 0.0001). The AGE‐rich diet (ND) resulted in an increase in CML (P < 0.0001), MG‐H1 (P < 0.001) and pentosidine (P < 0.0001) but not CEL, in Achilles and tail tendon. This is the first study to provide evidence for AGE accumulation in injury‐prone, weight‐bearing Achilles tendon associated with intake of an AGE‐rich diet. This indicates that food‐derived AGEs may alter tendon properties and the development of tendon injuries.