Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Overcoming the Challenge of Re-assessing Logical Memory

Practice effects present a challenge for neuropsychological re-assessments. Insufficiently controlled test-learning effects could result in “improved” test scores on re-assessment, which could wrongly be interpreted as recovery when in fact the underlying cognitive function has remained unchanged or deteriorated. Logical memory is highly sensitive to practice effects. Clients often remember the commonly used stimulus stories of the Wechsler Memory Scales (WMS) in subsequent re-assessments. Therefore alternative test stimuli are needed for research and clinical practice. This study undertook the development and statistical evaluation of a new set of logical memory stories, which can be utilised interchangeably with the traditional Wechsler stories. Empirical testing with different client groups (n = 240) confirmed that the newly created test stimuli have highly compatible structural and statistical properties to the WMS stories.
Dietary assessment in Whitehall II: comparison of 7 d diet diary and food-frequency questionnaire and validity against biomarkers

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to examine the agreement and disagreement between a 7 d diet diary (7DD) and a self-administered machine-readable food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) asking about diet in the previous year, and to validate both methods with biomarkers of nutrient intake. The subjects were an age- and employment-grade-stratified random subsample of London-based civil servants (457 men and 403 women), aged 39–61 years, who completed both a 7DD and a FFQ at phase 3 follow-up (1991–1993) of the Whitehall II study. Mean daily intakes of dietary energy, total fat, saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid, total carbohydrate excluding fibre, sugars, starch, dietary fibre, protein, vitamin C, vitamin E (as α-tocopherol equivalents), folate, carotenes (as total β-carotene activity), Fe, Ca, Mg, K and alcohol were measured. Serum cholesteryl ester fatty acids (CEFA), plasma α-tocopherol and β-carotene were also measured as biomarkers. Estimates of mean energy intake from the two methods were similar in men, and some 10 % higher according to the FFQ in women. Compared with the 7DD, the FFQ tended to overestimate plant-derived micronutrient intakes (carotenes from FFQ v. 7DD men 2713 (SD 1455) V. 2180 (sd 1188) μg/d, women 3100 (sd 1656) v. 2221 (sd 1180) μg/d, both differences P<0·0001) and to underestimate fat intake. Against plasma β-carotene/cholesterol, carotene intake was as well estimated by the FFQ as the 7DD (Spearman rank correlations, men 0·32 v. 0·30, women 0·27 v. 0·22, all P≤0·0001, energy-adjusted data). Ranking of participants by other nutrient intakes tended to be of the same order according to the two dietary methods, e.g. rank correlations for CEFA linoleic acid against FFQ and 7DD estimates respectively, men 0·38 v. 0·41, women 0·53 v. 0·62, all P≤0·0001, energy-adjusted % fat). For α-tocopherol there were no correlations between plasma level and estimated intakes by either dietary method. Quartile agreement for energy-adjusted nutrient intakes between the two self-report methods was in the range 37–50 % for men and 32–44 % for women, and for alcohol, 57 % in both sexes. Disagreement (misclassification into extreme quartiles of intake) was in the range 0–6 % for both sexes. The dietary methods yielded similar prevalences (about 34 %) of low energy reporters. The two methods show satisfactory agreement, together with an expected level of systematic differences, in their estimates of nutrient intake. Against the available biomarkers, the machine-readable FFQ performed well in comparison with the manually coded 7DD in this study population. For both methods, regression-based adjustment of nutrient intake to mean dietary energy intake by gender appears on balance to be the optimal approach to data presentation and analysis, in view of the complex problem of low energy reporting.
A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies Exploring Men’s Sense of Masculinity Post–Prostate Cancer Treatment

Background: There has been little psychosocial research concerning men’s adaption to prostate cancer and treatment-related sexual dysfunction. Qualitative studies have explored men’s sense of self after treatment, but the data have yet to be synthesized. Objective: The aim of this study was to report a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies exploring men’s sense of masculinity after treatment of prostate cancer. Methods: Six databases were searched to identify relevant studies conducted and published between January 1990 and August 2016. Titles and abstracts were reviewed by 2 reviewers. Studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected and reviewed for quality. The extracted data were then synthesized. Results: A total of 14 studies met the inclusion criteria and passed the quality assessment. The meta-synthesis found that men’s sense of masculinity diminished after treatment of prostate cancer. Impotence, incontinence, and physical changes caused psychological stress. Underpinning these factors were cultural influences and dominant ideals of what it means to be a man. Conclusions: Men had entrenched ideas about what manhood entailed. The review found that men’s sense of masculinity was diminished posttreatment of prostate cancer. They felt that they could not exercise their manliness because of the adverse effects associated with prostate cancer treatment. Implications for Practice: More support and communication throughout the process are required to better inform patients of the outcomes of treatment. In addition, it would be beneficial to have open forums through which to encourage men to talk frankly about their masculine identities.
Intracellular Maturation of the Mouse Metalloprotease Disintegrin MDC15*

Metalloprotease disintegrins are a family of membrane-anchored glycoproteins that play a role in fertilization, myoblast fusion, neuronal development, and cleavage of the membrane-anchored cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α. Here, we report the cloning and cDNA sequencing of the mouse metalloprotease disintegrin MDC15 and an analysis of its processing in the secretory pathway. A notable difference between mMDC15 and its putative human orthologue (hMDC15, metargidin) is the presence of the peptide sequence TDDC instead of the RGDC found in the disintegrin domain of hMDC15. In a Western blot analysis the majority of mMDC15 was found to lack the pro-domain in all mouse tissues examined. Pulse-chase experiments in transiently transfected COS-7 cells suggest that mMDC15 is processed by a pro-protein convertase in a late Golgi compartment, since (i) addition of brefeldin A or monensin blocks pro-domain removal, (ii) all detectable processed mMDC15 is endoglycosidase H -resistant, and (iii) a recombinant soluble form of the trans-Golgi network pro-protein convertase furin can mimic mMDC15 processing in vitro.Cell-surface trypsinization revealed that more than half of mature mMDC15 is intracellular. Immunolocalization provided evidence for a strong perinuclear accumulation in a region resembling the trans-Golgi network and/or endosomal compartments. This study provides the first characterization of the intracellular processing of a metalloprotease disintegrin, and highlights the potential role of pro-protein convertases in removal of the inhibitory pro-domain. These results further suggest possible intracellular functions for mMDC15, such as in protein maturation, in addition to a potential role in cell-surface proteolysis or cell adhesion.
Extending lactational amenorrhoea in Manila: a successful breast-feeding education programme

Summary An experimental breast-feeding education programme conducted at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila demonstrated that women could be motivated to improve their breast-feeding practices and lengthen their period of lactational amenorrhoea in comparison to a control group. Mothers who participated in the programme breast-fed their babies more frequently, delayed the introduction of regular supplements, used fewer bottles and pacifiers and maintained night feeding longer than mothers who were not exposed to the positive breast-feeding messages. The programme was successful in lengthening the period of amenorrhoea among women with elementary, high school, or technical school education, but not among college-educated women. Different educational approaches may be necessary for women of different education levels.
Does perceived risk influence the effects of message framing? A new investigation of a widely held notion

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the beneficial consequences of healthy behaviour (gain-framed messages) or the detrimental consequences of unhealthy behaviour (loss-framed messages). An influential notion holds that the perceived risk associated with the recommended behaviour determines the relative persuasiveness of gain- and loss-framed messages. This ‘risk-framing hypothesis’, as we call it, was derived from prospect theory, has been central to health message framing research for the last two decades, and does not cease to appeal to researchers. The present paper examines the validity of the risk-framing hypothesis. We performed six empirical studies on the interaction between perceived risk and message framing. These studies were conducted in two different countries and employed framed messages targeting skin cancer prevention and detection, physical activity, breast self-examination and vaccination behaviour. Behavioural intention served as the outcome measure. None of these studies found evidence in support of the risk-framing hypothesis. We conclude that the empirical evidence in favour of the hypothesis is weak and discuss the ramifications of this for future message framing research.
Incidence and Etiology of Failed Spinal Anesthetics in a University Hospital: A Prospective Study

Two recent retrospective reports on the incidence of failed spinal anesthetics that indicated extremely variable results prompted the present prospective study of 200 consecutive spinal anesthetics to determine the incidence and causes of failed spinal anesthetics.Tetracaine was the spinal anesthetic agent utilized in all cases — crystalline tetracaine (Niphanoid) in 71% and a 1% solution in 19% of the cases. The failure rate overall was 4%, with all failures being due to anesthetic factors, both technical and pharmacologic. However, only 25% of the failures were due to errors in technique, and 75% were due to errors in judgment with respect to pharmacologic factors (dosage, use of epinephrine, and/or positioning of the patient). Our data, therefore, differ from those of Levy et al. (Anesth Analg 1985;64:705–10), both in terms of failure rate, which is 25% of theirs, and in terms of causation, with our data indicating errors in judgment to be the causative factor three times as often as errors in technique. Presumably, this difference is due to the greater experience in spinal anesthesia that a resident receives at our institution.
Improving Effect of Dietary Taurine Supplementation on the Oxidative Stress and Lipid Levels in the Plasma, Liver and Aorta of Rabbits Fed on a High-Cholesterol Diet

The effect of a high-cholesterol diet with or without taurine on lipids and oxidative stress in the plasma, liver and aorta of rabbits was investigated. The animals were maintained on a basal diet (control), a high-cholesterol diet (HC, 1% w/w), or a high- cholesterol diet supplemented with taurine (HCHT, 2.5% w/w) for two months. Taurine has an ameliorating effect on atherosclerosis together with a decreasing effect on the cholesterol and triglyceride levels in rabbits fed on an HC diet. The HCHT diet caused a significant decrease in the malondialdehyde (MDA) and diene conjugate (DC) levels in the plasma, liver and aorta of rabbits as compared to the HC group. This treatment did not alter the antioxidant system in the liver of rabbits in the HC group. Our findings indicate that taurine ameliorated oxidative stress and cholesterol accumulation in the aorta of rabbits fed on the HC diet and that this effect may be related to its antioxidative potential as well as its reducing effect on serum lipids.
Procalcitonin values in preeclamptic women are related to severity of disease

Preeclampsia is a heterogeneous syndrome ranging from mild hypertension and proteinuria to severe preeclampsia with complications (1). It has also been reported that this severe pregnancy complicationmay be associated with an enhanced maternal inflammatory response and endothelial cell activation (2, 3), in that the placental tissue produces a variety of cytokines and hormones which are essential for the regulation of the feto-maternal unit by modulating the immune, reproductive and endocrine systems (4). Overall, preterm birth, preeclampsia, pregnancy loss and adverse neonatal outcomes have all been associated with inflammation (2). High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) has been reported to be increased in many patients with preeclampsia, even in the absence of manifest infection, and it could be used as a severity marker (5). Procalcitonin (PCT), a 14.5-kDa protein, is the 116 amino acid polypeptide precursor of calcitonin, a calcium regulatory hormone. Production is regulated by the Calc-1 gene, located on chromosome 11. Calc-1 codes for prePCT, which undergoes proteolytic cleavage of its signal sequence to produce the definitive PCT molecule (6). Current evidence suggests that PCT might be useful for detecting and evaluating severity of systemic bacterial infections. However, additional studies indicate that PCT may be a cytokine-like mediator of inflammation rather than a simple marker of infection (7, 8).
Changes of Interleukin Expression Correlate with Helicobacter pylori Infection and Lymph Node Metastases in Gastric Carcinoma

Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection induces expression of IL-8 and IL-10 in benign gastric epithelium. This study compared the expression of cytokines in CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte subsets of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), benign mucosal lymphocytes (ML), and tumor infiltrative lymphocytes (TIL) as well as in the benign and malignant epithelial cells of the same patient, with respect to the presence of HP infection, lymph node metastases, and tumor histologic type. The mRNA of the cytokines was measured by a semiquantitative RT-PCR method. The levels were ranked and compared using the Wilcoxon sign-ranked test. Compared with CD8+ ML, the CD8+ TIL expresses higher levels of IL-6 and IL-8 but lower level of IL-4 in patients with lymph node metastases. In patients with HP infection, expression of IL-8 and IL-10 was higher in the gastric carcinoma cells than in the benign epithelial cells while expression of IL-6 and IL-8 were higher in CD8+ TIL than CD8+ ML. Overexpression of IL-8 in HP associated gastric carcinomas suggested that they might have arisen from HP-infected epithelial cells.
RNase HI stimulates the activity of RnlA toxin in Escherichia coli

A type II toxin–antitoxin system in Escherichia coli, rnlA‐rnlB, functions as an anti‐phage mechanism. RnlA is a toxin with an endoribonuclease activity and the cognate RnlB inhibits RnlA toxicity in E. coli cells. After bacteriophage T4 infection, RnlA is activated by the disappearance of RnlB, resulting in the rapid degradation of T4 mRNAs and consequently no T4 propagation, when T4 dmd is defective: Dmd is an antitoxin against RnlA for promoting own propagation. Previous studies suggested that the activation of RnlA after T4 infection was regulated by multiple components. Here, we provide the evidence that RNase HI is an essential factor for activation of RnlA. The dmd mutant phage could grow on ΔrnhA (encoding RNase HI) cells, in which RnlA‐mediated mRNA cleavage activity was defective. RNase HI bound to RnlA in vivo and enhanced the RNA cleavage activity of RnlA in vitro. In addition, ectopic expression of RnlA in ΔrnlAB ΔrnhA cells has less effect on cell toxicity and RnlA‐mediated mRNA degradation than in ΔrnlAB cells. This is the first example of a direct factor for activation of a toxin.
Form Input Validation - An Empirical Study on Irish Corporate Websites

The information maintained about products, services and customers is a most valuable organisational asset. Therefore, it is important for successful electronic business to have high quality websites. A website must however, do more than just look attractive it must be usable and present useful, usable information. Usability essentially means that the website is intuitive and allows visitors to find what they are looking for quickly and without effort. This means careful consid-eration of the structure of information and navigational design. According to the Open Web Applications Security Pro-ject, invalidated input is one of the top ten critical web-application security vulnerabilities. We empirically tested 21 Irish corporate websites. The findings suggested that one of the biggest problems is that many failed to use mechanisms to validate even the basic user data input at the source of collection which could potentially result in a database full of useless information.
The signal game: Missions and playground to motivate vocational education students toward periodic signals

Vocational Education is a modality of regulated learning that emphasizes practical and applied skills over theoretical approaches. Nevertheless, some theoretical subjects are contained in the program. These subjects are not well perceived by the students, even when the concepts taught in them represent physically perceptible phenomena. The Signal Game represents periodical signals as audible sounds to help students learning concepts such as frequency, amplitude and summation, or multiplexing of signals. To play the game, the students can drag and wire blocks visually and thus it does not require a strong theoretical background. The game allows the users to play through sequential missions. Thereby, the student can learn and assimilate the concepts gradually. The other game mode is the playground, in it the students have all the possibilities enabled. A user study revealed that the game increased intrinsic motivation and that the students acquired applicable concepts about signal theory. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput. Appl. Eng. Educ. Comput Appl Eng Educ 23:771–777, 2015; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21649
B-Type Natriuretic Peptide and Intraventricular Conduction Delay in Idiopathic Nonischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Background: Idiopathic nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (INIDCM) is associated with increased left ventricular diastolic volume and decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is secreted from the left ventricle in normal adults and patients who have left ventricular dysfunction and is useful in diagnosing acute heart failure from ischemic or nonischemic causes. Limited information is available about the association between intraventricular conduction delay (IVCD) and BNP levels in patients who have INIDCM. Methods: In patients evaluated in urgent care for chest pain and acute shortness of breath, there were 33 patients who had INIDCM and 39 patients who had idiopathic dyspnea. Evaluation included determination of plasma BNP level, LVEF, and presence of IVCD. Results: The mean BNP level was significantly greater in the INIDCM (947 ng/L) than idiopathic dyspnea group (43 ng/L; P ≤ .001). The mean LVEF was lower in the INIDCM (27%) than idiopathic dyspnea group (62%; P ≤ .001). There was high IVCD (QRS complex > 120 ms) in 10 patients (30%) who had INIDCM and none with idiopathic dyspnea. In the patients with INIDCM, patients who had high IVCD had greater mean BNP (initial and 3-mo follow-up) and lower LVEF than patients who had low IVCD (QRS duration ≤ 120 ms). Conclusions: Increased plasma BNP levels may facilitate the diagnosis of INIDCM and may be associated with high IVCD.
Eye bank survey of surgeons using precut donor tissue for descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty.

PURPOSE To assess surgeon satisfaction with precut corneal tissue from 1 eye bank for Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). Surgical techniques and predictors of procedural success were also examined. METHODS A 19-question survey was completed by 53 surgeons around the United States for 197 DSAEK cases using prepared corneal allograft tissue from the Iowa Lions Eye Bank. Surgeries were performed between April 1 and December 31, 2006; surveys were completed retrospectively within a few weeks of surgery. RESULTS Tissue was found to be acceptable in 98% of DSAEK cases reported. Difficulties with precut tissue (eg, lack of anterior cap adherence to the posterior lamella, not visible or decentered central dot, anterior edge undermining) were reported in approximately 10% of cases. A rebubbling procedure was performed in 23% of cases for donor dislocations. The donor lenticule adhered, with resulting corneal deturgescence, in 86% of cases. Surgeons declared a successful procedure in 92% of cases. Of the 14 unsuccessful cases, donor tissue quality was the underlying etiology in only 1 case. Procedural success rates were related to surgeon experience (P = 0.002), lenticule adherence after only 1 anterior chamber air bubble (P = 0.005), no small perforations to release fluid (P = 0.005), and the presence of corneal deturgescence (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS The use of precut tissue for DSAEK is not associated with increased risk of complications related to tissue preparation. With standardization of precutting donor tissue, safety of DSAEK surgery may be improved while increasing surgeon efficiency.
Quality-of-life in patients with post-traumatic hypopituitarism

Abstract Primary objective: Hypopituitarism is a frequent complication in patients after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Both TBI and hypopituitarism can lead to complex cognitive and affective deficits. This study was intended to examine the quality-of-life in patients with post-traumatic hypopituitarism (PTH) and to discern the effect of this endocrinological disorder on general outcome of patients after TBI including earning capacity. Research type: Retrospective analysis of clinical data. Methods and procedures: Ninety-seven symptomatic patients were screened after TBI for PTH. Their results were examined in the SF-36 [a standardized questionnaire for quality of life (QoL)] comparing the groups with or without PTH. After 6 months of hormone substitution (if necessary), patients were asked to repeat the SF-36. Main outcomes and results: Forty-six patients were diagnosed with PTH (47.5%). All patients included had a significantly lower QoL compared to the standard population. QoL was significantly worse in patients with PTH. There was no significant difference with regard to earning capacity. After hormone substitution, patients achieved better SF-36-results, albeit the difference was lacking statistical significance. Conclusions: PTH is frequent after TBI. PTH turns out to further diminish QoL, without affecting earning capacity. Hormone substitution might improve QoL in patients with PTH, but future research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.