Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of the Dry Eye-Related Quality-of-Life Score questionnaire.

IMPORTANCE A validated questionnaire that assesses symptoms and the effect of dry eye disease (DED) on the patient's daily life is needed to evaluate the condition. OBJECTIVE To develop and validate the Dry Eye-Related Quality-of-Life Score (DEQS) questionnaire in Japan. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Development and evaluation of the DEQS questionnaire were conducted in 4 phases: (1) item generation, (2) pilot study to assess content and face validity, (3) preliminary psychometric validation study to examine factor structure and reduce the number of items, and (4) final psychometric validation with 224 participants (203 with DED and 21 serving as controls). Participants completed the DEQS questionnaire, the Short Form-8, and the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25. To evaluate reproducibility and responsiveness, individuals with DED completed the DEQS questionnaire twice. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Internal consistency, reproducibility, discriminant validity, concurrent validity, and responsiveness. RESULTS Items were generated from a literature review, and 35 items were selected for the draft version. In the pilot study, 11 items were deleted; furthermore, 9 items were deleted based on the results of item analysis and factor analysis in the preliminary validation study. The final 15-item DEQS questionnaire consisted of an Overall Summary scale and 2 multi-item subscales: Impact on Daily Life and Bothersome Ocular Symptoms. The psychometric analysis revealed that the DEQS questionnaire has good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, discriminant validity, and responsiveness to change. The DEQS questionnaire correlated well with the mental component of the Short Form-8 and showed strong correlations with 4 subscales (Ocular Pain, Near Vision, Distance Vision, and Mental Health) of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The DEQS questionnaire is valid and reliable for evaluating the multifaceted effect of DED on the patient's daily life, including mental health, and it can be used easily in routine clinical practice.
Redox signal-mediated sensitization of transient receptor potential melastatin 2 (TRPM2) to temperature affects macrophage functions

The ability to sense temperature is essential for organism survival and efficient metabolism. Body temperatures profoundly affect many physiological functions, including immunity. Transient receptor potential melastatin 2 (TRPM2) is a thermosensitive, Ca2+-permeable cation channel expressed in a wide range of immunocytes. TRPM2 is activated by adenosine diphosphate ribose and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), although the activation mechanism by H2O2 is not well understood. Here we report a unique activation mechanism in which H2O2 lowers the temperature threshold for TRPM2 activation, termed “sensitization,” through Met oxidation and adenosine diphosphate ribose production. This sensitization is completely abolished by a single mutation at Met-214, indicating that the temperature threshold of TRPM2 activation is regulated by redox signals that enable channel activity at physiological body temperatures. Loss of TRPM2 attenuates zymosan-evoked macrophage functions, including cytokine release and fever-enhanced phagocytic activity. These findings suggest that redox signals sensitize TRPM2 downstream of NADPH oxidase activity and make TRPM2 active at physiological body temperature, leading to increased cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations. Our results suggest that TRPM2 sensitization plays important roles in macrophage functions.
Risk, Uncertainty and Exchange Rate Behavior in South Africa

ABSTRACT This study investigates the role of market sentiment and foreign policy uncertainty in explaining rand price fluctuations using monthly data from 1995M2 to 2017M8. Empirical results from the pair copula analysis indicate no dependence between foreign policy uncertainties and rand returns when market sentiment is controlled for. Furthermore, change in market sentiment seems to drive fluctuations in rand exchange rate suggesting that exchange rate behavior is indeed unpredictable as market sentiment captures both risk and uncertainty. These results are robust across pre- and post-recent financial crisis periods; hence confirming the ability of pair copula to model extreme events.
Bromoenol Lactone Inhibits Voltage-Gated Ca2+ and Transient Receptor Potential Canonical Channels

Circulating hormones stimulate the phospholipase Cβ (PLC)/Ca2+ influx pathway to regulate numerous cell functions, including vascular tone. It was proposed previously that Ca2+-independent phospholipase A2 (iPLA2)-dependent store-operated Ca2+ influx channels mediate hormone-induced contractions in isolated arteries, because bromoenol lactone (BEL), a potent irreversible inhibitor of iPLA2, inhibited such contractions. However, the effects of BEL on other channels implicated in mediating hormone-induced vessel contractions, specifically voltage-gated Ca2+ (CaV1.2) and transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels, have not been defined clearly. Using isometric tension measurements, we found that thapsigargin-induced contractions were ∼34% of those evoked by phenylephrine or KCl. BEL completely inhibited not only thapsigargin- but also phenylephrine- and KCl-induced ring contractions, suggesting that CaV1.2 and receptor-operated TRPC channels also may be sensitive to BEL. Therefore, we investigated the effects of BEL on heterologously expressed CaV1.2 and TRPC channels in human embryonic kidney cells, a model system that allows probing of individual protein function without interference from other signaling elements of native cells. We found that low micromolar concentrations of BEL inhibited CaV1.2, TRPC5, TRPC6, and heteromeric TRPC1–TRPC5 channels in an iPLA2-independent manner. BEL also attenuated PLC activity, suggesting that the compound may inhibit TRPC channel activity in part by interfering with an initial PLC-dependent step required for TRPC channel activation. Conversely, BEL did not affect endogenous voltage-gated K+ channels in human embryonic kidney cells. Our findings support the hypothesis that iPLA2-dependent store-operated Ca2+ influx channels and iPLA2-independent hormone-operated TRPC channels can serve as smooth muscle depolarization triggers to activate CaV1.2 channels and to regulate vascular tone.
Central nervous system activity of Leucas inflata Benth. in mice.

The analgesic activity of the methanol and acetone extracts of Leucas inflata L. (family Labiatae) was evaluated in mice using different experimental models. The effect of the two extracts on pentobarbitone-sleeping time, motor activity, sensorimotor coordination, carrageen induced inflammation, and brewer's yeast-induced pyrexia has also been investigated. The two crude extracts have been phytochemically analyzed and some constituents isolated and characterized. These included stigmasterols, a chromone and coumarins. Extracts of L. inflata L. , given at single oral doses of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 g/kg, significantly and dose-dependently, reduced formalin-induced pain, acetic acid induced abdominal constrictions and increased the reaction time in the hot-plate test. Both extracts caused significant and dose-related impairment in the sensorimotor control and ambulatory and total motor activity of treated mice. Both extracts exhibited anti-inflammatory action by reducing paw edema of treated mice. The extracts did not significantly affect the rectal temperature of normothermic mice. However, they were effective in preventing Brewers yeast induced pyrexia. It is concluded that the crude methanol and acetone extract of L. inflata has CNS depressant properties, manifested as antinociception and sedation. Both extracts have anti-inflammatory and antipyretic actions.
Randomized Comparison of 2 Protocols to Prevent Acquisition of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Results of a 2-Center Study Involving 500 Patients

Objective. To compare an interventional protocol with a standard protocol for preventing the acquisition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the intensive care unit (ICU). Design. Prospective, randomized, controlled, parallel-group, nonblinded clinical trial. Setting. Medical ICUs of 2 French university hospitals. Participants. Five hundred adults with an expected length of stay in the ICU greater than 48 hours. Interventions. For the intervention group, the protocol required repeated MRSA screening, contact and droplet isolation precautions for patients at risk for MRSA at ICU admission and for MRSA-positive patients, and decontamination with nasal mupirocin and chlorhexidine body wash for MRSA-positive patients. For the standard group, the standard precautions protocol was used, and the results of repeated MRSA screening in the standard group were not communicated to investigators. Main Outcome Measure. MRSA acquisition rate in the ICU. An audit was conducted to assess compliance with hygiene and isolation precautions. Results. In the intent-to-treat analysis (n = 488), the MRSA acquisition rate in the ICU was similar in the standard (13 [5.3%] of 243) and intervention (16 [6.5%] of 245) groups (P =.58). The audit showed that the overall compliance rate was 85.5% in the standard group and 84.1% in the intervention group (P =.63), although compliance was higher when isolation precautions were absent than when they were in place (88.2% vs 79.1%; P<.001). MRSA incidence rates were higher without isolation precautions (7.57‰) than with isolation precautions (2.36‰; P =.01). Conclusions. Individual allocation to MRSA screening, isolation precautions, and decontamination do not provide individual benefit in reducing MRSA acquisition, compared with standard precautions, although the collective risk was lower during the periods of isolation. Trial Registration. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00151606.
Pneumonia in HIV‐infected patients in the HAART era: Incidence, risk, and impact of the pneumococcal vaccination

The objective of this study was to assess the factors implicated in an increased or decreased risk of pneumonia, with particular attention to the response to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and the effect of the polysaccharide 23‐valent pneumococcal vaccination in 300 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐infected adults followed‐up for a median of 35.6 months. Pneumococcal pneumonia occurred in 12 patients and all bacterial pneumonia (pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae or other bacteria, as well as those with negative cultures but presumably bacterial in origin) in 40 patients. In the univariate analysis, immunodepressed patients (defined as those with less than 200 CD4+ T cell/μl), those without immunological response to HAART (defined as an increase of 25% of CD4+ T lymphocyte count), patients with previous admissions to hospital and those with cotrimoxazole or Mycobacterium avium intracellulare prophylaxis showed a higher incidence of both pneumococcal and all bacterial pneumonia. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of pneumococcal pneumonia was associated with a CD4+ lymphocyte count at the time of HIV diagnosis <200 cells/μl. The multivariate model that was more valid for prediction of all bacterial pneumonia included a CD4+ T cell count <200 cells/μl and absence of immunological response to HAART. Only in patients with a baseline CD4+ T cell count lower than 200/μl and immunological response to HAART, a near significant lower incidence of all bacterial pneumonia was observed after vaccination. Thus, these results do not support an important additional protective effect of 23‐valent pneumococcal vaccine in HIV‐patients with immunological response to HAART. J. Med. Virol. 72:517–524, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
KARAKTER WANITA WIRAUSAHA PADA INDUSTRI KECIL KERUPUK KEMPLANG DI KABUPATEN OGAN ILIR

Characters that exist in person of self-employment is one of the effort to improve the individual quality so they can improve their business performance. Unique character in entrepreneurial women make them more involved in the processing industry, though the business performance which they run have not increased. The purpose of this study were to identify indicators that determine the psychological character of women entrepreneurs, identify indicators that determine the individual character of women, and analyze the effect of psychological character and the individual character of women entrepreneurs for business performance in small-scale crackers kemplang industry in Ogan Ilir. Data were collected from 120 respondent, which was taken through purposive sampling method. Data were analyzed using the approach of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results showed that psychological character has significant positive effect on business performance. This suggests that the increased on character hardworking, disciplined, risk taker, a visionary, innovative, confident and responsible will improve business performance on a small-scale crackers kemplang industry in Ogan Ilir. So it is necessary to build of character with the involvement of government through policy, training or school of character, as well as capital and facilities, and other infrastructure that support this business activities.
Aquaculture changes the proile of antibiotic resistance and mobile genetic element associated genes in Baltic Sea sediments

Antibiotics are commonly used in aquaculture and they can change the environmental resistome by increasing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Sediment samples were collected from two ish farms located in the Northern Baltic Sea, Finland, and from a site outside the farms (control). The sediment resistome was assessed by using a highly parallel qPCR array containing 295 primer sets to detect ARGs, mobile genetic elements and the 16S rRNA gene. The ish farm resistomes were enriched in transposon and integron associated genes and in ARGs encoding resistance to antibiotics which had been used to treat ish at the farms. Aminoglycoside resistance genes were also enriched in the farm sediments despite the farms not having used aminoglycosides. In contrast, the total relative abundance values of ARGs were higher in the control sediment resistome and they were mainly genes encoding eflux pumps followed by beta-lactam resistance genes, which are found intrinsically in many bacteria. This suggests that there is a natural Baltic sediment resistome. The resistome associated with ish farms can be from native ARGs enriched by antibiotic use at the farms and/or from ARGs and mobile elements that have been introduced by ish farming.
Evaluating the Absolute and Relative Income Hypotheses in an Exploratory Analysis of Deaths in the Health and Lifestyle survey

In studying the links between income and mortality we need to recognise two key hypotheses. In the absolute income hypothesis, the higher an individual income, the lower the risk of mortality. In the relative income hypothesis, the individual's health is additionally affected by the distribution of income within society so that living in a place with grossly unequal income distribution is anticipated to lead to a worse health experience (see Chapter 5 of this volume). This chapter attempts to review the evidence for the importance of both these hypotheses using data from the U K representative Health and Lifestyle Survey employing both individual and ecological measures of income. Despite the considerable policy implications, there has been comparatively little work undertaken in the British context on the absolute income hypothesis. However, U S A studies have found an inverse non-linear relation between household income and early mortality, poorer income being associated with poorer health. Previous studies are reviewed in detail elsewhere (Jones et al., 2001). The relative income hypothesis has been subject to considerable research interest in recent years. This can be seen as part of a wider critique of reductionist, individualised risk-factor epidemiology and the promotion of what Susser (1998: 609) has called a 'multilevel eco-epidemiology' in which health depends not only on individual characteristics but also on the setting, or 'ecology', in which individuals live and work. In terms of the health and relative income hypothesis, the most
An Exploratory Analysis of the Territorial Capital and Economic Growth: Evidence From Romania

The paper investigates Romanian territorial capital components and analyses the relationship between them and economic growth using structural equation modeling methodology (SEM). The available dataset across Romanian counties (NUTS 3) offered by national statistics allows for identifying five components of territorial capital: economic, infrastructural, institutional, human and social capital. Our research reveals that four components economic, infrastructural, institutional and human capital are contributing positively to the Romanian territorial capital and one social capital has a negative impact. Also, we found that not all the components of the Romanian territorial capital positively influenced economic growth. The findings document a positive impact of economic and infrastructural capital, a negative impact of social capital and an insignificant impact of human capital and institutional capital on economic growth. In our opinion, all these findings have important development policy implications and urging for future research.
Adverse Skin Reactions to Iodinated X-ray Contrast Agents in Healthy Rats

PurposeThe aim of this preclinical study on healthy Sprague-Dawley rats was to determine whether differences exist in the induction of adverse skin reactions after the intravenous administration of a monomeric and 2 dimeric iodinated nonionic contrast agents. Materials and MethodsAfter intravenous injection of iopromide (monomeric), iodixanol (dimeric), and iotrolan (dimeric) at a dose of 4 g iodine/kg of body weight, mechanical ear volume measurements (10 minute after injection) and intravital microscopy (baseline, 5 minutes after injection) of the ear with the near-infrared dye indocyanine green were performed to determine the volume change and plasma extravasation. Histopathological analysis (20 minutes, 1 hour, and 3 hours after injection) was performed to diagnose alterations in the skin. Blood plasma was analyzed to identify elevated levels of histamine (5 minutes after injection) and inflammatory markers (a multianalyte profile of 58 markers; 1 hour and 3 hours after injection). ResultsOnly iodixanol induced immediate angioedema formation, with a 100% incidence rate and with slight mast cell infiltration in the ear, muzzle, and paws. The ear showed a 53% volume increase and strong extravasation of plasma proteins into the interstitium, which correlated with highly (11-fold) increased plasma histamine levels 5 minutes after injection. Elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor-&agr; (7.1-fold), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1&agr; (3.2-fold), and MIP-2 (7.7-fold) were identified 1 hour after the iodixanol injection. Increased levels (fold-change) of MIP-1&bgr; (14; 6.3), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (3.3; 3.7), monocyte chemotactic protein-3 (2.4; 3.0), stem cell factor (1.7; 2), vascular endothelial growth factor (2; 2.1), and interferon gamma-induced protein-10 (4.1; 39.1) were identified 1 hour and 3 hours after the iodixanol administration, respectively. The level of these molecules remained unchanged after the iopromide and iotrolan injections (except for stem cell factor). ConclusionsA reversible anaphylactoid-like reaction in healthy Sprague-Dawley rats was observed after the iodixanol administration but not after the monomeric iopromide or dimeric iotrolan injections. Therefore, we conclude that the induction of adverse skin reactions is not per se because of a class effect of dimeric contrast agent.
Abnormal reverse cholesterol transport in controlled type II diabetic patients. Studies on fasting and postprandial LpA-I particles.

The high incidence and prevalence of coronary heart disease in diabetes mellitus is clearly established. The usual lipid pattern found in type II diabetic patients is a moderate increase in fasting triglyceride levels associated with low HDL cholesterol levels. These abnormalities are further amplified in the postprandial state. To study the effect of these alterations on reverse cholesterol transport, we isolated lipoprotein containing apoA-I but not apoA-II (LpA-I) particles by immunoaffinity chromatography from the plasma of well-controlled type II diabetic patients and nondiabetic matched control subjects. Different parameters involved in this antiatherogenic pathway were measured in both fasting and postprandial states. Diabetic patients had reduced levels of LpA-I particles that were protein enriched and phospholipid depleted. Gradient gel electrophoresis showed that control LpA-I particles had five distinct populations, whereas diabetic particles lacked the largest one. LpA-I isolated from diabetic plasma exhibited a decreased capacity to induce cholesterol efflux from Ob 1771 adipose cells both in fasting (15.1 +/- 10.0% versus 7.5 +/- 2.7%, P < .05) and postprandial (17.7 +/- 11.2% versus 7.7 +/- 3.9%, P < .05) states, whereas only control particles showed significantly higher ability to promote cholesterol efflux after the test meal (P = .02). Lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase activity measured with an exogenous substrate showed a 54% increase and an 18% decrease postprandially for control subjects and patients, respectively. Thus, the different abnormalities found in the fasting state were further amplified in the postprandial situation. This resulted in LpA-I particles with aberrant size and composition and decreased ability to accomplish their antiatherogenic role in type II diabetic patients.
Responding to Emotional Stress in Pediatric Hospitals: Results From a National Survey of Chief Nursing Officers

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify leadership awareness of emotional stress and employee support efforts in pediatric hospitals. BACKGROUND: The current pediatric environment has seen increases in treatment intensity, care duration, and acuity of patients resulting in increased likelihood of being exposed to emotional events. METHODS: Mail survey was sent to chief nursing officers at 87 pediatric hospitals. RESULTS: A total of 49 responses (56%) were received. Hospitals with less than 250 beds were significantly more likely to rate emotional stress as a large to very large problem, whereas ANCC Magnet® hospitals felt better about support efforts after patient deaths. Most commonly used support offerings focused on staff recovery after a traumatic event as opposed to training for prevention of emotional stress. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional stress is a well-recognized issue in pediatric hospitals with comparatively large resource commitment. Further focus on caregiver prevention training and unit leadership recognition of stress may be needed.
Knowledge Graph Embedding with Triple Context

Knowledge graph embedding, which aims to represent entities and relations in vector spaces, has shown outstanding performance on a few knowledge graph completion tasks. Most existing methods are based on the assumption that a knowledge graph is a set of separate triples, ignoring rich graph features, i.e., structural information in the graph. In this paper, we take advantages of structures in knowledge graphs, especially local structures around a triple, which we refer to as triple context. We then propose a Triple-Context-based knowledge Embedding model (TCE). For each triple, two kinds of structure information are considered as its context in the graph; one is the outgoing relations and neighboring entities of an entity and the other is relation paths between a pair of entities, both of which reflect various aspects of the triple. Triples along with their contexts are represented in a unified framework, in which way structural information in triple contexts can be embodied. The experimental results show that our model outperforms the state-of-the-art methods for link prediction.