Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Occupational Health and Safety Experiences among Self-Identified Immigrant Workers Living or Working in Somerville, MA by Ethnicity, Years in the US, and English Proficiency

In this community based research initiative, we employed a survey instrument predominately developed and administered by Teen Educators to assess occupational health risks for Haitian, Salvadoran, and Brazilian immigrants (n = 405) in Somerville, MA, USA. We demonstrate that a combined analysis of ethnicity, years in the US, and English proficiency better characterized the occupational experience of immigrant workers than considering these variables individually. While years in the US (negatively) and English proficiency (positively) explained the occurrence of health risks, the country of origin identified the most vulnerable populations in the community. Brazilians, Salvadorans, and other Hispanic, all of whom who have been in the US varying length of time, with varying proficiency in English language had twice the odds of reporting injuries due to work compared to other immigrants. Although this observation was not significant it indicates that years in the US and English proficiency alone do not predict health risks among this population. We recommend the initiation of larger studies employing c community based participatory research methods to confirm these differences and to further explore work and health issues of immigrant populations. This study is one of the small number of research efforts to utilize a contemporaneous assessment of occupational health problems in three distinct immigrant populations at the community level within a specific Environmental Justice context and social milieu.
Prospective memory deficits in Ecstasy users: Effects of longer ongoing task delay interval

Ecstasy use has been associated with neurotoxicity and neurocognitive impairment in a variety of domains, including prospective memory (ProM), which involves the delayed execution of a previously encoded intention in response to a specific cue. The present study adopted the multiprocess theory of ProM to evaluate the hypothesis that Ecstasy users would evidence differentially impaired ProM on longer versus shorter ongoing task delays. Ecstasy (n = 31) users, high-risk alcohol users (n = 21), and healthy nonusers (n = 31) completed the short (2-min) and long (15-min) delay ProM scales of the Memory for Intentions Screening Test. Results showed a significant group by ProM delay interaction, such that Ecstasy users performed comparably to the comparison groups on short-delay trials, but were impaired on long-delay ProM, particularly for time-based cues. Among the Ecstasy users, long-delay ProM was positively associated with risky decision making, but not with retrospective memory or other aspects of executive functions. These findings suggest that Ecstasy users may be particularly susceptible to deficits in strategic target monitoring and maintenance of cue–intention pairings over longer ProM delays. Findings are discussed in the context of their potential everyday functioning (e.g., academic, vocational) and treatment implications for Ecstasy users.
Nitroglycerin Therapy Is as Efficacious as Standard Estrogen Replacement Therapy (Premarin) in Prevention of Oophorectomy‐Induced Bone Loss: A Human Pilot Clinical Study

Nitric oxide (NO) is known to affect bone metabolism. Previous animal studies have shown that NO donor therapy can prevent ovariectomy (OVX)‐induced as well as corticosteroid‐induced bone loss. Therefore, we have carried out a 1‐year human, randomized, controlled pilot clinical study to assess the efficacy of nitroglycerin (NG) in the prevention of estrogen‐deficiency‐induced bone loss in women. We observed that NG ointment, when applied to the skin once a day (within 4 weeks of undergoing oophorectomy), mimicked estrogen replacement therapy in prevention of bone loss. The primary outcome of bone mineral density (BMD) was not different in the two groups at the end of 1 year. Urinary N‐telopeptide levels were significantly decreased after administration of either estrogen or NG. Although estrogen decreased serum osteocalcin and bone‐specific alkaline phosphatase levels, NG therapy significantly increased these two markers of bone formation. Further, it was revealed that for up to 1 year, these doses of NG did not result in tachyphylaxis. This study showed for the first time that NG is as effective as estrogen in preventing bone loss in these surgically induced menopausal women. Additionally, the dose of NG used in this study was three to four times less than that generally used to affect cardiovascular homeostasis. Although in this randomized clinical study only a small number of patients was examined, data are encouraging. If these data hold true in large randomized, controlled clinical trials, then NG could emerge as an efficacious, cost‐effective, affordable, safe, and convenient form of therapy (especially as an alternative therapy to hormone‐replacement therapy [HRT]) for prevention of postmenopausal bone loss.
Association Between HLA and Extrahepatic Biliary Atresia

The etiopathogenesis of extrahepatic biliary atresia (EHBA) remains undefined. There are clinical and pathological suggestions supporting the idea that EHBA could consist of at least two forms: the congenital (embryonic or fetal) and the acquired (perinatal) types. To test the hypothesis that susceptibility to this disease would be influenced by host genetic factors, we studied the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system in 55 patients with and without major extrahepatic congenital anomalies. We found, especially in those without associated malformations, a significantly higher frequency of HLA-B12, of haplotypes A9-B5 and A28-B35, and of their disequilibrium values, as compared with the 8th International Histocompatibility Workshop controls. This study suggests that immunogenetic factors may play a role in determining susceptibility to EHBA, and the different HLA frequencies in those with and without anomalies lend support to the hypothesis that biliary atresia may be an etiologically heterogeneous disorder.
Interpopulation differences in exudate feeding of pygmy marmosets in Ecuadorian Amazonia

Local variations in fruit‐ and leaf‐eating have been reported for some primate species; however, similar variations in exudate‐feeding of pygmy marmosets, one of the most specialized neotropical primate species, have not been studied. In our 3‐year study of four populations of pygmy marmosets in northeastern Ecuador, we characterized their exudate‐feeding behavior by describing the use of exudate sources. We tested whether the use of exudate species was related to ecological factors such as the availability of exudate species in an area. We estimated the daily activity budgets of the groups with 1‐hr scan samples and found significant interpopulation differences in the time spent on exudate feeding. We recorded a total of 18 exudate species used in the four populations; however, the populations differed in the total number of species used and in the preferred species. The most commonly used plant species were Sterculia apetala at San Pablo, Cedrela odorata at Sacha, Inga marginata at Amazoonico, and Parkia balslevii at Zancudo. We recorded the presence and abundance of the 18 exudate species in 90‐m transects in the home range of each group and in one additional control area that contained no marmosets, for each population. Differences in the most‐used exudate species among populations did not appear to be related to the availability of these species in each population, i.e., the marmosets did not use at random the exudate species available within their range, nor did they use more often the exudate species that were more abundant in their home ranges. One implication of our results for conservation is that protecting exudate resources based on data from only one area will not be sufficient to preserve pygmy marmosets in all populations. Am. J. Primatol. 66:145–158, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Effects of cefonicid and other cephalosporin antibiotics on male sexual development in rats

The purpose of this study was to determine whether cefonicid, a cephalosporin antibiotic with a modified N-methylthiotetrazole (MTT) side chain, caused testicular toxicity when subcutaneously administered to Sprague-Dawley male rats from days 6 to 36 postpartum at doses of 50 to 1,000 mg/kg per day. Moxalactam (a cephamycin antibiotic which will be referred to as a cephalosporin for convenience throughout), which contains the MTT side chain, was used as a positive control and was administered at 100 to 1,000 mg/kg per day, and cephalothin, which lacks an MTT side chain, was used as the negative control at 1,000 mg/kg per day. Moxalactam caused a significant reduction in testicular and seminal vesicle weights in 37-day-old animals, and histological examination revealed bilateral multifocal atrophy of the seminiferous tubules at all dose levels. Animals reared to reproductive maturity had significant deficits in fertility, and histological examination revealed multifocal or diffuse atrophy of the seminiferous tubules at all doses with a severity greater than that observed in the 37-day-old animals. The histological findings were confirmed by marked reductions in testicular sperm production rates and cauda epididymal sperm numbers. Cephalothin and cefonicid had no treatment-related adverse effects on the sexual maturation of prepubertal, juvenile, or adult males. The absence (in cephalothin) or modification (in cefonicid) of the MTT side chain was not associated with adverse reproductive effects. The relevance of these findings to humans in prenatal and prepubertal stages of life cannot be determined at this time.
Abundance and Diversity of Viruses in Six Delaware Soils

ABSTRACT The importance of viruses in marine microbial ecology has been established over the past decade. Specifically, viruses influence bacterial abundance and community composition through lysis and alter bacterial genetic diversity through transduction and lysogenic conversion. By contrast, the abundance and distribution of viruses in soils are almost completely unknown. This study describes the abundance and diversity of autochthonous viruses in six Delaware soils: two agricultural soils, two coastal plain forest soils, and two piedmont forest soils. Viral abundance was measured using epifluorescence microscopy, while viral diversity was assessed from morphological data obtained through transmission electron microscopy. Extracted soil virus communities were dominated by bacteriophages that demonstrated a wide range of capsid diameters (20 nm to 160 nm) and morphologies, including filamentous forms and phages with elongated capsids. The reciprocal Simpson's index suggests that forest soils harbor more diverse assemblages of viruses, particularly in terms of morphological distribution. Repeated extractions of virus-like particles (VLPs) from soils indicated that the initial round of extraction removes approximately 70% of extractable viruses. Higher VLP abundances were observed in forest soils (1.31 × 109 to 4.17 × 109 g−1 dry weight) than in agricultural soils (8.7 × 108 to 1.1 × 109 g−1 dry weight). Soil VLP abundance was significantly correlated to moisture content (r = 0.988) but not to soil texture. Land use (agricultural or forested) was significantly correlated to both bacterial (r = 0.885) and viral (r = 0.812) abundances, as were soil organic matter and water content. Thus, land use is a significant factor influencing viral abundance and diversity in soils.
An application of Harrell's C‐index to PH frailty models

Frailty models are encountered in many medical applications, yet little research has been devoted to develop measures that quantify the predictive ability of these models. In this paper, we elaborate on the concept of the concordance probability to clustered data, resulting in an ‘Overall Conditional C‐index’ or bfCO, C and an ‘Overall Marginal C‐index’ or CO, M. Both Overall C‐indices can be split up into a ‘Between Conditional’ or CB, C and a ‘Between Marginal C‐index’ or CB, M and into a ‘Within Conditional’ or CW, C and a ‘Within Marginal C‐index’ or CW, M. For PH frailty models of the power variance family, CW, C and CW, M are equivalent resulting in one ‘Within C‐index’ CW. We propose an application of Harrell's C‐index to estimate the proposed indices within a likelihood and a Bayesian context and the performances of their point estimates and confidence/credible intervals are compared in an extensive simulation study. This simulation study shows that the point estimates of CW and CB, M perform good within both a likelihood and Bayesian context but that the point estimates of CB, C show less bias for the Bayesian approach than for the likelihood approach. The 95 per cent confidence/credible intervals also possess good coverage properties, given that the point estimates perform good. The performance of the C‐indices is evaluated on a real data set. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Defective Heparan Sulfate Biosynthesis and Neonatal Lethality in Mice LackingN-Deacetylase/N-Sulfotransferase-1*

Heparan sulfate is a sulfated polysaccharide present on most cell surfaces and in the extracellular matrix. In vivo functions of heparan sulfate can be studied in mouse strains lacking enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of heparan sulfate. Glucosaminyl N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase (NDST) catalyzes the first modifying step in the biosynthesis of the polysaccharide. This bifunctional enzyme occurs in several isoforms. We here report that targeted gene disruption of NDST-1 in the mouse results in a structural alteration of heparan sulfate in most basement membranes as revealed by immunohistochemical staining of fetal tissue sections using antibodies raised against heparan sulfate. Biochemical analysis of heparan sulfate purified from fibroblast cultures, lung, and liver of NDST-1-deficient embryos demonstrated a dramatic reduction in N-sulfate content. Most NDST-1-deficient embryos survive until birth; however, they turn out to be cyanotic and die neonatally in a condition resembling respiratory distress syndrome. In addition, a minor proportion of NDST-1-deficient embryos die during the embryonic period. The cause of the embryonic lethality is still obscure, but incompletely penetrant defects of the skull and the eyes have been observed.
Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis: improved compliance and impact on infection rates

SUMMARY The aims of this study were to determine adherence to the perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP) protocol used at a large Italian teaching hospital during a 6-year period, to assess the variables associated with inappropriate administration, and to measure the impact on surgical site infection (SSI) rates. There were 28 621 patients surveyed of which 74·6% received PAP. An improvement in adherence to the PAP protocol was registered for 58·8% of patients. Significant risk factors were an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score ⩾2 [odds ratios (OR) from 1·28 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1·19–1·37) to 1·87 (95% CI 1·43–2·44)], prolonged duration of surgery (OR 1·68, 95% CI 1·56–1·82) and urgent surgery (OR 2·16, 95% CI 1·96–2·37). During the study period, a significant reduction in SSIs rates was detected. We concluded that the global reduction of inadequate PAP administration signifies the efficacy of a multidisciplinary quality improvement initiative on antimicrobial utilization, and this is supported by the observed reduction of the SSI rate.
Spinal afferents to functionally distinct periaqueductal gray columns in the rat: An anterograde and retrograde tracing study

The segmental and laminar organization of spinal projections to the functionally distinct ventrolateral (vlPAG) and lateral periaqueductal gray (lPAG) columns was examined by using retrograde and anterograde tracing techniques. It was found 1) that spinal input to both vlPAG and lPAG columns arose predominantly from neurons in the upper cervical (C1–4) and sacral spinal cord; 2) that there was a topographical separation of vl‐PAG projecting and lPAG‐projecting neurons within the upper cervical spinal cord; but 3) that below spinal segment C4, vlPAG‐projecting and lPAG‐projecting spinal neurons were similarly distributed, predominantly within contralateral lamina I, the nucleus of the dorsolateral fasciculus (the lateral spinal nucleus) and the lateral (reticular) part of lamina V. Consistent with the retrograde results, the greatest density of anterograde label, within both the vlPAG and lPAG, was found after tracer injections made either in the superficial or deep dorsal horn of the upper cervical spinal cord. Tracer injections made within the thoraco‐lumbar spinal cord revealed that the vlPAG column received a convergent input from both the superficial and deep dorsal horn. However, thoraco‐lumbar input to the lPAG was found to arise uniquely from the superficial dorsal horn; whereas the deep dorsal horn was found to innervate the “juxta‐aqueductal” PAG region rather than projecting to the IPAG.
Expression and significance of Pim‐3 kinase in adult T‐cell leukemia

Human T‐cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV‐1) causes adult T‐cell leukemia (ATL). Viral Tax protein plays a major role in ATL development. Pim family of serine/threonine kinases is composed of Pim‐1, ‐2, and ‐3. The potential of Pim family as a target in ATL was analyzed.
Early intervention in psychosis: concepts, evidence and future directions

The rise of the early intervention paradigm in psychotic disorders represents a maturing of the therapeutic approach in psychiatry, as it embraces practical preventive strategies which are firmly established in mainstream health care. Early intervention means better access and systematic early delivery of existing and incremental improvements in knowledge rather than necessarily requiring dramatic and elusive breakthroughs. A clinical staging model has proven useful and may have wider utility in psychiatry. The earliest clinical stages of psychotic disorder are non-specific and multidimensional and overlap phenotypically with the initial stages of other disorders. This implies that treatment should proceed in a stepwise fashion depending upon safety, response and progression. Withholding treatment until severe and less reversible symptomatic and functional impairment have become entrenched represents a failure of care. While early intervention in psychosis has developed strongly in recent years, many countries have made no progress at all, and others have achieved only sparse coverage. The reform process has been substantially evidence-based, arguably more so than other system reforms in mental health. However, while evidence is necessary, it is insufficient. It is also a by-product as well as a catalyst of reform. In early psychosis, we have also seen the evidence-based paradigm misused to frustrate overdue reform. Mental disorders are the chronic diseases of the young, with their onset and maximum impact in late adolescence and early adult life. A broader focus for early intervention would solve many of the second order issues raised by the early psychosis reform process, such as diagnostic uncertainty despite a clear-cut need for care, stigma and engagement, and should be more effective in mobilizing community support. Early intervention represents a vital and challenging project for early adopters in global psychiatry to consider.
Citizen participation for good governance and development at the local level in Kenya.

Good governance and citizen participation now form an integral part of the development debate. It appears from the literature that Kenya has experimented over the years with various forms of citizen participation. Kenyas decentralization experiment since independence has in various ways tried to address the issues of both development and popular participation. Official attempts at decentralization and at engaging the effective participation of local people in decisions about local development seem to follow the general pattern of the practice in former British colonies. This article undertakes a critical analysis of citizen participation for good governance and local development in Kenya. It focuses on decentralization as a way of enhancing the effectiveness of citizen participation in local development. More specifically it evaluates the role of decentralization in overall local development with specific reference to local-level capacity-building for effective citizen participation. The article also focuses on the role of civil society the church local authorities and other local initiatives in promoting popular participation and good governance and development at the local level and in enhancing the capacities of local populations in participatory development. In addition the changing face of local development in the overall national development agenda and the consistent evolution of local development policy is traced and evaluated. The article concludes that effective local citizen participation must specifically relate to effective devolution of power to the localities. Finally the article draws conclusions from lessons learned and makes appropriate remedial and policy recommendations. (authors)
Survey of total mercury and methylmercury levels in edible fish from the Adriatic Sea

Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations were measured in the muscle tissue of different fish species from the Adriatic Sea to ascertain whether the concentrations exceeded the maximum level fixed by the European Commission. Large species-dependent variability was observed. The highest total mercury mean concentrations were in benthic (0.20–0.76 μg g−1 wet wt) and demersal fish (0.22–0.73 μg g−1 wet wt), while pelagic species showed the lowest levels (0.09–0.23 μg g−1 wet wt). In 15% of frost fish, in 42% of skate and in 30% of angler fish samples total mercury concentrations exceeded the maximum level fixed by the European Commission (Hg = 1 μg g−1 wet wt); for the species for which the maximum level was set to 0.5 μg g−1 wet wt, concentrations exceeding the prescribed legal limit were observed in 6.4% of bokkem, in 6.6% of pandora, in 20% of megrin, in 12.5% of four-spotted megrim, in 16% of striped mullet, in 5.0% of forkbeard and in 5.3% of picarel samples. In all the different species, mercury was present almost completely in the methylated form, with mean percentages between 70 and 100%. Weekly intake was estimated and compared with the provisional tolerable weekly intake recommended by the FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. A high exposure was associated with the consumption of only skates, frost fish and angler fish, thought the consumption of the other species, such as, megrim, four spotted megrim, red fish striped mullet and forkbeard, resulted in a weekly intake slightly below the established provisional tolerable weekly intake.
The role of anemia in first simple febrile seizure in children aged 6 months to 5 years old.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between anemia and first simple febrile convulsion in patients 6 months to 5 years old. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 240 patients aged 6 months to 5 years old from 10 October 2010 to 15 December 2011 at Ghaem Hospital, Imam Reza Hospital, and Dr. Sheikh Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. Patients were divided into 2 groups: the control group who had fever without seizure, and the case group who had first simple febrile seizure. The anemia levels in both groups were evaluated and compared. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 20.7+/-14.8 months. It was 20.53+/-15.07 for the case group, and 20.9+/-14.6 for the control group (p=0.74). The mean hemoglobin in the case group was 11.05+/-1.37, and 11.14+/-1.19 in the control group (p=0.58). Anemia was detected in 37.5% of the case group, and 36.7% of controls (p=0.89). CONCLUSION: There was no relationship between anemia and first simple febrile seizure.