Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A decade of evidence-based training for work with people with serious mental health problems: Progress in the development of psychosocial interventions

Over the last ten years, the policy of successive governments in the United Kingdom has been to focus service provision on people who experience serious mental health problems. Policy pronouncements have recently culminated with the publication of 'Modernising mental health services' (DoH, 1998). This new vision commits funding to a whole new raft of initiatives one of which is described as 'more and better trained staff'. The training of mental health professionals in skills subsumed under the title of 'psychosocial interventions' (PSI) has been provided in formal accredited programmes since 1992. The programmes aim to teach mental health professionals the skills to work with people with serious mental health problems with curricula that are based upon research evidence about effective interventions. This paper describes the development of 'psychosocial intervention' training to date. It reviews the studies that have evaluated the impact of such training. It concludes that whilst investment in PSI training may bring some benefits several major issues require resolution including: the implementation of evidence-based interventions in routine clinical settings; the constant review of PSI curriculum design in line with resources; finally, there is a pressing need for PSI trainers/teachers and commissioners to articulate the manner in which they involve service users and their families.
MENTORING'S CRITICAL COMPONENTS: FOUR TRADITIONAL TEACHERS', FOUR ALTERNATE-ROUTE TEACHERS', AND FOUR MENTORS' PERSPECTIVES

New teachers enter the teaching profession from varied backgrounds, creating numerous unique needs. For instance, traditional teachers earn degrees in teaching, whereas alternate-route teachers earn college degrees in content areas. Both types of teachers must pass the Praxis test before being hired by a school district in the State of New Jersey. Thus, mentoring programs have become essential sources of support for first-year teachers, who are expected to perform the same duties as their veteran colleagues despite their lack of experience. This study explored 1 mentoring program from the perspectives of 4 traditional teachers, 4 alternate-route teachers, and 4 mentors who participated in the same mentoring program to determine what support was provided, what components were missing, and what components should be included to meet new teachers’ unique needs. The 2 groups of teacher participants completed 1 online questionnaire, answered 3 open-ended questions, and participated in 1 audio personal audio interview. The 4 mentors participated in 1 personal audio interview. The implications of this study provide a better understanding of the unique needs of 2 groups of diversely trained teachers. In addition, critical components were identified to include in mentoring programs to better meet new teachers’ individual needs. This study will provide designers of mentoring programs and professional development workshops useful information and may foster the development of collegial learning communities. Recommendations from this research found that mentoring programs should be flexible enough to provide more individualized support. Further research is needed on the mentoring process and the various aspects that contribute to new teachers’ success.
Perceptions of Vulnerability to HIV Among Older African American Women

ABSTRACT This is one of the first studies among older African American women to examine partner communication and perceived risk for HIV. Understanding that the vast majority of older women are infected through heterosexual contact, this study investigated several partner-related factors associated with perceptions of vulnerability to HIV among older African American women (age range = 50–81 years). A cross-sectional survey was conducted (n = 167) in three rural counties in South Carolina. Perceptions of vulnerability to HIV was most strongly associated with women who were not married, believed that their sexual partner would not approve of using condoms and had morecomfort in communicating with their partners about sex. Recognizing the role of intimate partners in predicting women's perceptions of their own vulnerability to HIV is an important factor to consider when developing HIV prevention programs for older African American women. Future studies need to examine factors associated with effective partner communication, particularly negotiation strategies around condom use among older adults.
Sphingosine kinase 1 and 2 regulate the capacity of mesangial cells to resist apoptotic stimuli in an opposing manner

Abstract Sphingosine kinases (SKs) are key enzymes regulating the production of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), which determines important cell responses including cell growth and death. Here we show that renal mesangial cells isolated from wild-type, SK-1-/-, and SK-2-/- mice show a differential response to apoptotic stimuli. Wild-type mesangial cells responded to staurosporine with increased DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 processing, which was enhanced in SK-1-/- cells. In contrast, SK-2-/- cells were highly resistant to staurosporine-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, the basal phosphorylation and activity of the anti-apoptotic protein kinase B (PKB) and of its substrate Bad were decreased in SK-1-/- but not in SK-2-/- cells. Upon staurosporine treatment, phosphorylation of PKB and Bad decreased in wild-type and SK-1-/- cells, but remained high in SK-2-/- cells. In addition, the anti-apoptotic Bcl-XL was significantly upregulated in SK-2-/- cells, which may further contribute to the protective state of these cells. In summary, our data show that SK-1 and SK-2 have opposite effects on the capacity of mesangial cells to resist apoptotic stimuli. This is due to differential modulation of the PKB/Bad pathway and of Bcl-XL expression. Thus, subtype-selective targeting of SKs will be critical when considering these enzymes as therapeutic targets for the treatment of inflammation or cancer.
Role of epidural ketamine for postoperative analgesia after upper abdominal surgery

Ketamine, a N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist inhibits central sensitization due to peripheral nociception thus potentiating the analgesic effect of morphine. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effect of adding small-dose ketamine in a multimodal regimen of postoperative patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA). One hundred patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I-II, undergoing major upper abdominal surgery were randomly allocated to two groups. Group I received PCEA device containing bupivacaine hydrochloride 0.0625% and morphine sulphate (preservative free) 0.05mg/ml. Group II received PCEA device containing bupivacaine hydrochloride 0.0625%, morphine sulphate (preservative free) 0.05 mg/ml and ketamine hydrochloride (preservative free) 0.2 mg/ml. The mean morphine consumption in group I after 1stand 2ndpostoperative day was 8.38±2.85 and 7.64±1.95 mg, respectively, compared to 6.81±1.35 and 6.25±1.22 mg (P<0.05) in group II. Although group II consumed significantly less morphine, pain relief at rest and at movement after 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours, postoperatively was significantly better in group II (P<0.05) than in group I. These findings suggest that adding small-dose ketamine to a multimodal PCEA regimen provides better postoperative analgesia and reduces morphine consumption.
The influence of linoleic and linolenic acid on the activity and intracellular localisation of phospholipase D in COS-1 cells

Abstract Phospholipase D (PLD) is a receptor-regulated signalling enzyme involved in biological functions, such as exocytosis, phagocytosis, actin dynamics, membrane trafficking, and is considered to be essential for stimulated degranulation of cells. The purpose of our investigation was to examine how the fatty acid pattern of cellular membranes influences the activities and cellular distribution of the PLD1 and PLD2 isoforms. Expression of GFP-tagged PLD1 and PLD2 in COS-1 cells that were stimulated with mastoparan after cultivation in 20 μmol linoleic (C18:2n6) or linolenic (C18:3n3) acid for 4 d demonstrated that PLD1 dramatically alters its cellular distribution and is redistributed from intracellular vesicles to the cell surface. PLD2, on the other hand, maintains its localisation at the plasma membrane. The activity of PLD, which corresponds to PLD1 and PLD2, significantly increased two- to three-fold in the presence of the fatty acids. We conclude that linoleic acid and linolenic acid supplementation affect the intracellular trafficking of the PLD1 isoform and the activity of PLD most likely due to alterations in the membrane lipid environment conferred by the fatty acids.
The solution structure of pGolemi, a high affinity Mena EVH1 binding miniature protein, suggests explanations for paralog-specific binding to Ena/VASP homology (EVH) 1 domains

Abstract Ena/VASP homology 1 (EVH1) domains are polyproline binding domains that are present in a wide range of adaptor proteins, among them Ena/VASP proteins involved in actin remodeling and axonal guidance. The interaction of ActA, a transmembrane protein from the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, with EVH1 domains has been shown to be crucial for recruitment of the host's actin skeleton and, as a consequence, for the infectivity of this bacterium. We present the structure of a synthetic high-affinity Mena EVH1 ligand, pGolemi, capable of paralog-specific binding, solved by NMR spectroscopy. This peptide shares the common pancreatic peptide fold with its scaffold, avian pancreatic peptide, but shows pivotal differences in the amino-terminus. The interplay of spatial fixation and flexibility appears to be the reason for its high affinity towards Mena EVH1. Combined with earlier investigations, our structural data shed light on the specificity determinants of pGolemi and the importance of additional binding epitopes around the residues Thr74 and Phe32 on EVH1 domains regulating paralog specificity. Our results are expected to facilitate the design of other high-affinity, paralog-specific EVH1 domain ligands, and serve as a fundament for the investigation of the molecular mode of action of EVH1 domains.
A profile of adverse drug reactions with risk factors among geriatric patients in a tertiary care teaching rural hospital in India

Aims & Objective: To study the adverse drug reaction profile, its causality, severity, associated risk factors and preventability in geriatric patients in a tertiary care teaching rural hospital. Materials and methods: Four hundred geriatric patients from various inpatient and outpatient departments were observed for occurrence of adverse drug events (ADEs) during August 2007 to October 2009. ADEs were either spontaneously reported or elucidated from personal interviews and analyzed. Results: In forty seven (11.75%) patients, 57 events occurred of which 75.43% occurred in indoor and 24.56% in outdoor patients. Most patients (74.46%) were in the age range of 65 to 74 years. The male to female ratio was 1.47: 1. Majority of ADEs involved gastrointestinal system (43.85%), followed by cardiovascular system (14.03%), endocrine system (12.28%) and skin and mucous membranes (12.28%). 142 drugs were suspected to cause these ADEs. Chemotherapeutic agents were the most commonly suspected drugs followed by cardiovascular drugs, drugs acting on CNS and steroids. On assessing causality, majority of events were rated as ‘possible’ by both WHO-UMC (66.66%) and Naranjo’s criteria (68.42%). Severity assessment (Hartwig scale) showed that 19.29%, 68.42% and 12.28% ADEs were severe, moderately severe and mild respectively. Risk factors for ADR development found were socioeconomic status (p=0.000), number of diseases suffered (p=0.002), number of medicines taken per day (p=0.000), compliance (p=0.048) and inappropriate prescribing (p=0.004). 36.84% ADRs were definitely preventable and 17.54% were probably preventable by modified Schumock and Thornton scale. Conclusion: ADRs is a major problem prevalent in geriatric patients and is significantly associated with socioeconomic status, number of diseases, number of medicines consumed per day, compliance to therapy and inappropriate prescribing.
Supporting the Aging Workforce: A Review and Recommendations for Workplace Intervention Research

The workforce in most industrialized countries is aging and becoming more age-diverse, and this trend is expected to continue throughout the twenty-first century. Although there has been an increased interest in research on age differences at work, few studies have examined actual interventions designed to support workers at different points across the life span. In this article, we review the literature related to aging at work, including physical, cognitive, personality, and motivational changes; life-span development theories; age stereotyping; age diversity; and work–life balance. Based on this review, we propose a number of avenues for intervention research to address age differences at work. We conclude by identifying critical challenges specific to studying age at work that should be addressed to advance research on interventions.
Oral pregabalin premedication for attenuation of haemodynamic pressor response of airway instrumentation during general anaesthesia: A dose response study

Background: The airway instrumentation of direct laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation are powerful noxious stimuli that should be attenuated by appropriate premedication, smooth induction and rapid intubation. The present study evaluated the safe and clinically effective dose of oral pregabalin premedication for attenuation of haemodynamic pressor response of airway instrumentation. Methods: A total of 90 normotensive adult consented patients aged 24–56 years, ASA grade I and II, of both gender were randomized into three treatment groups of 30 patients each. Group I received oral placebo, Group II oral pregabalin 75 mg and Group III oral pregabalin 150 mg 1 h prior to induction. Anaesthetic technique was standardized and all groups were assessed for pre-operative sedation, haemodynamic changes after the premedication, before and after induction, after laryngoscopy and intubation, along with intraoperative haemodynamic stability and post-operative side-effects. Results: Pre-operative sedation levels were higher with pregabalin premedication. Significant increase in heart rate and mean arterial pressure was observed in Groups I and II after airway instrumentation, while statistically significant attenuation of mean arterial pressure was seen in Group III. No significant decrease in heart rate was observed in any group. None of the patient has suffered from any post-operative side-effects, and no significant differences in the parameters of recovery and awakening time were observed. Conclusion: Oral pregabalin premedication has adequately sedated the patients. The haemodynamic pressor response of airway instrumentation was attenuated in a dose-related fashion. The premedicated patients were haemodynamically stable perioperatively without prolongation of recovery time and side-effects.
Self-Care, Productivity and Leisure Limitations of People with Multiple Sclerosis in Manitoba

As part of the activities of the Social Action Committee of the Multiple Sclerosis Society (Manitoba Division), a large mail-out survey was conducted in the spring of 1995. The purpose of the survey was to gather demographic, health, social and financial information from members who have multiple sclerosis to support various government lobbying efforts and to plan individual and family services. The response rate for the 720 surveys sent was 65%. This paper presents descriptive analysis exploring the occupational performance limitations experienced by the survey respondents based on the Model of Occupational Performance (CAOT, 1991). The prevalence of limitation was found to vary by specific occupation, by type of multiple sclerosis, by area of occupational performance, but not by fatigue status. The study findings have assessment and intervention implications for occupational therapists who work with people with multiple sclerosis in both institutional and community settings.
Intra-operative haemodynamic volatility in a patient undergoing retroperitoneal cyst excision

Excision of a suspected retroperitoneal, duodenal duplication cyst was performed in a pre-operatively normotensive patient under combined epidural and general anaesthesia. Intraoperatively, the cystic tumour was discovered to be a retroperitoneal mass, free from duodenal or adrenal origin. Development of severe arrhythmias, ST segment changes and hypertensive spikes during cyst handling and dissection suggested the possibility of a catecholamine-secreting tumour. These were managed effectively with pharmacological agents. Subsequently, histopathology of the specimen revealed a paraganglioma. Vasoactive tumour has to be suspected in every patient undergoing anaesthesia for retroperitoneal cystic lesion.
Effectiveness of the Health Awareness Community Team Intervention in Improving the Maternal and Neonatal Health Status in Mandailing Natal (Madina) District, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia

Background: Behavior that can influence the status of the health cannot be separated from the cultural habits, particularly in activities such as care and treatment of diseases. Mandailing Natal (Madina) district is one of the regions with high maternal and neonatal mortality rate in Sumatera Indonesia. The life of its community is very much influenced by their tradition and culture. Objective: To determine intervention effectiveness in improving the maternal and neonatal health status. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study with an intervention involving the community members in health education counseling care was conducted with emphasis on local culture and education using local languages. The program was implemented from March to August 2014. The study population included all pregnant mothers in Madina district. The sample comprised 78 mothers selected through purposive sampling technique. The data were obtained through survey using a questionnaire. Result: The intervention used by the Health Awareness Community Team significantly improved the health status of mothers and neonatal, obtaining a p-value of
A novel matrix metalloprotease-like enzyme (karilysin) of the periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia ATCC 43037

Abstract Proteases of Tannerella forsythia, a pathogen associated with periodontal disease, are implicated as virulence factors. Here, we characterized a matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-like enzyme of T. forsythia referred to as karilysin. Full-length (without a signal peptide) recombinant karilysin (49.9 kDa) processed itself into the mature 18-kDa enzyme through sequential autoproteolytic cleavage at both N- and C-terminal profragments. The first cleavage at the Asn14-Tyr15 peptide bond generated the fully active enzyme (47.9 kDa) and subsequent truncations at the C-terminus did not affect proteolytic activity. Mutation of Tyr15 to Ala generated a prokarilysin variant that processed itself into the final 18-kDa form with greatly reduced kinetics. Inactive prokarilysin with the mutated catalytic Glu residue (E136A) was processed by active karilysin at the same sites as the active enzymes. Karilysin proteolytic activity and autoprocessing were inhibited by 1,10-phenanthroline and EDTA. Calcium ions were found to be important for both the activity and thermal stability of karilysin. Using CLiPS technology, the specificity of karilysin was found to be similar to that of MMPs with preference for Leu/Tyr/Met at P1′ and Pro/Ala at P3. This specificity and the ability to degrade elastin, fibrinogen and fibronectin may contribute to the pathogenicity of periodontitis.
A New Method for the Clinical Determination of Sensorineural Acuity Level (SAL)

The classical method for the measurement of sensorineural hearing loss, bone-conduction audiometry, presents serious problems both at the clinical and theoretical levels. First, available methods for the calibration of the bone-conduction system have never satisfied the conscientious clinician. Second, the many variables affecting the bone-conduction threshold in mild hearing losses have often led clinicians to question the validity of bone responses. The problems involved in testing unilateral losses, for example, are well known. At the theoretical level, unanswered questions regarding when to mask the nontest ear and how much masking to use on it are highlighted by the widely varying opinions presently existing in the field. 1-8 Rainville 9 has attempted to circumvent many of these problems by approaching the measurement of sensorineural loss with an entirely new procedure. His technique can be briefly described as follows: First, the air conduction threshold is determined on the ear under test. Second,
Cell-free DNA concentration and integrity as a screening tool for cancer.

AIM OF THE STUDY This study aims to evaluate cell-free DNA (CFDNA) concentration and integrity in patients with malignant and nonmalignant diseases and in controls to investigate their value as a screening test for cancer, and to correlate them with clinicopathological parameters of cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included three groups; group I: 120 cancer patients, group II: 120 patients with benign diseases and group III: 120 normal healthy volunteers as control. One plasma sample was collected from each subject. CFDNA was purified from the plasma then its concentration was measured and integrity was assessed by PCR amplification of 100, 200, 400, and 800 bp bands. RESULTS There was a highly significant difference in CFDNA levels between cancer group and each of benign and control groups. AUC of ROC curve for cancer group versus normal and benign groups were 0.962 and 0.895, which indicated the efficiency of CFDNA as a marker of cancer. As for integrity, normal and benign subjects showed only two bands at 100 and 200 bp, while all cancer patients demonstrated the 400 bp band and 78% of them had the 800 bp whose presence correlated with vascular invasion. CONCLUSION The combined use of CFDNA concentration and integrity is a candidate for a universal screening test of cancer. Upon setting suitable boundaries for the test it might be applied to identify cancer patients, particularly among subjects with predisposing factors. Being less expensive, CFDNA concentration could be applied for mass screening and for patients with values overlapping those of normal and benign subjects, the use of the more expensive, yet more specific, integrity test is suggested.