Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The M protein of group A Streptococcus is a key virulence factor and a clinically relevant strain identification marker

The M protein coats group A streptococci (GAS) and acts as the primary antigen and determinant of type-specific immunity. M is essential for GAS virulence, providing antiphagocytic functions critical to survival in human tissues and fluids. Specific regions of M protein also serve as shared antigens, and cross-reactivity between these epitopes and human proteins may be the source of autoimmune sequelae such as rheumatic heart disease. The M protein is hypervariable, and has long served as the primary target for epidemiological typing of GAS. Though other markers or genotyping methods may be necessary to increase strain resolution when clones of a given M type differ in clinically critical ways, M typing remains the most directly informative and well-documented method for tracking outbreaks of GAS, predicting clinical outcomes during those outbreaks, and measuring the general threat presented by GAS at any given time and place.
The non-structural (NS) gene segment of H9N2 influenza virus isolated from backyard poultry in Pakistan reveals strong genetic and functional similarities to the NS gene of highly pathogenic H5N1

Apart from natural reassortment, co-circulation of different avian influenza virus strains in poultry populations can lead to generation of novel variants and reassortant viruses. In this report, we studied the genetics and functions of a reassorted non-structural gene (NS) of H9N2 influenza virus collected from back yard poultry (BYP) flock. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes indicates that an isolate from BYP belongs to H9N2. However, the NS gene-segment of this isolate cluster into genotype Z, clade 2.2 of the highly pathogenic H5N1. The NS gene plays essential roles in the host-adaptation, cell-tropism, and virulence of influenza viruses. However, such interpretations have not been investigated in naturally recombinant H9N2 viruses. Therefore, we compared the NS1 protein of H9N2 (H9N2/NS1) and highly pathogenic H5N1 (H5N1/NS1) in parallel for their abilities to regulate different signaling pathways, and investigated the molecular mechanisms of IFN-β production in human, avian, and mink lung cells. We found that H9N2/NS1 and H5N1/NS1 are comparably similar in inhibiting TNF-α induced nuclear factor κB and double stranded RNA induced activator protein 1 and interferon regulatory factor 3 transcription factors. Thus, the production of IFN-β was inhibited equally by both NS1s as demonstrated by IFN stimulatory response element and IFN-β promoter activation. Moreover, both NS1s predominantly localized in the nucleus when transfected to human A549 cells. This study therefore suggests the possible increased virulence of natural reassortant viruses for their efficient invasion of host immune responses, and proposes that these should not be overlooked for their epizootic and zoonotic potential.
Gender differences in sepsis

During sepsis, a complex network of cytokine, immune, and endothelial cell interactions occur and disturbances in the microcirculation cause organ dysfunction or even failure leading to high mortality in those patients. In this respect, numerous experimental and clinical studies indicate sex-specific differences in infectious diseases and sepsis. Female gender has been demonstrated to be protective under such conditions, whereas male gender may be deleterious due to a diminished cell-mediated immune response and cardiovascular functions. Male sex hormones, i.e., androgens, have been shown to be suppressive on cell-mediated immune responses. In contrast, female sex hormones exhibit protective effects which may contribute to the natural advantages of females under septic conditions. Thus, the hormonal status has to be considered when treating septic patients. Therefore, potential therapies could be derived from this knowledge. In this respect, administration of female sex hormones (estrogens and their precursors) may exert beneficial effects. Alternatively, blockade of male sex hormone receptors could result in maintained immune responses under adverse circulatory conditions. Finally, administration of agents that influence enzymes synthesizing female sex hormones which attenuate the levels of pro-inflammatory agents might exert salutary effects in septic patients. Prospective patient studies are required for transferring those important experimental findings into the clinical arena.
Neurocognitive Functioning and Treatment Outcome Following Detoxification Among Asian Alcohol-Dependent Inpatients

ABSTRACT Background: The prevalence of alcohol use disorders in Asia is increasing and relapse among treated populations remains the norm, not the exception. The extent to which cognitive impairment influences clinical outcome remains unclear, with research dominated by studies of Caucasian populations. Objectives: This study examines behavioral and self-reported cognitive functioning in detoxified alcohol-dependent (AD) patients in Singapore and its association with outcome. Methods: The cognitive performance of 30 recently-detoxified AD inpatients and 30 demographically-matched controls was compared using visuospatial memory, working memory, set-shifting, planning and reflection impulsivity tests of the CANTAB®, and self-reported dysexecutive symptoms and everyday cognitive difficulties. Patients’ alcohol use and self-reported cognitive functioning were reassessed 3-months post-discharge. Results: Compared to matched controls, AD inpatients exhibited significantly poorer fluid intelligence, visuospatial memory, working memory, set-shifting flexibility and planning/organization, but not reflection impulsivity. In support of Western studies, a significant proportion (three-quarters) were “clinically impaired” on subtests. Significant reductions were observed in alcohol units, frequency and dependency scores at follow-up, though improvements in self-reported cognitive functioning were limited to abstainers. Baseline cognitive performance did not differentiate those who had abstained from alcohol and relapsed at follow-up. Conclusions/Importance: Memory and executive functioning impairments were evident among Asian AD patients alongside self-reported cognitive difficulties, thus cognitively demanding psychological interventions may have limited impact during early detoxification. Future studies can build on these findings, with larger samples and measurement of moderating and mediating factors to extend our understanding of how cognitive impairment influences outcome.
Phenotypic plasticity in nematodes

Model systems, including C. elegans, have been successfully studied to understand the genetic control of development. A genotype’s phenotype determines its evolutionary fitness in natural environments, which are typically harsh, heterogeneous and dynamic. Phenotypic plasticity, the process by which one genome can produce different phenotypes in response to the environment, allows genotypes to better match their phenotype to their environment. Phenotypic plasticity is rife among nematodes, seen both as differences among life-cycles stages, perhaps best exemplified by parasitic nematodes, as well as developmental choices, such as shown by the C. elegans dauer/non-dauer developmental choice. Understanding the genetic basis of phenotypically plastic traits will probably explain the function of many genes whose function still remains unclear. Understanding the adaptive benefits of phenotypically plastic traits requires that we understand how plasticity differs among genotypes, and the effects of this in diverse, different environments.
Barriers to implementation of Tuberculosis infection control amongst South African Health Care Workers

This chapter provides an overview of health system factors that influence health worker performance in implementing TB infection control (TBIC) in primary care clinics at district level. Research in the form of a case study was conducted among professional and lay healthcare workers (HCWs) to assess barriers to implementation of TBIC in two South African primary care clinics with high TB prevalence. Barriers and enablers to TBIC implementation were linked with health systems and HCW motivation. Some of the barriers identified were inadequate HCW training on TBIC, a non-responsive compensation policy and the perception that a busy clinic schedule leaves no time for TBIC implementation. Resource availability, adequate human resources, supervision and leadership characterised by delegation enabled HCWs to implement TBIC.
Substitution and Complementarity of Alcohol and Cannabis: A Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT Background: Whether alcohol and cannabis are used as substitutes or complements remains debated, and findings across various disciplines have not been synthesized to date. Objective: This article is a first step towards organizing the interdisciplinary literature on alcohol and cannabis substitution and complementarity. Method: Electronic searches were performed using PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge. Behavioral studies of humans with “alcohol” (or “ethanol”) and “cannabis” (or “marijuana”) and “complement*” (or “substitut*”) in the title or as a keyword were considered. Studies were organized according to sample characteristics (youth, general population, clinical and community-based). These groups were not set a priori, but were informed by the literature review process. Results: Of the 39 studies reviewed, 16 support substitution, ten support complementarity, 12 support neither and one supports both. Results from studies of youth suggest that youth may reduce alcohol in more liberal cannabis environments (substitute), but reduce cannabis in more stringent alcohol environments (complement). Results from the general population suggest that substitution of cannabis for alcohol may occur under more lenient cannabis policies, though cannabis-related laws may affect alcohol use differently across genders and racial groups. Conclusions: Alcohol and cannabis act as both substitutes and complements. Policies aimed at one substance may inadvertently affect consumption of other substances. Future studies should collect fine-grained longitudinal, prospective data from the general population and subgroups of interest, especially in locations likely to legalize cannabis.
The analgesic effects of interferential (IF) current on cold-pressor pain in healthy subjects: a single blind trial of three IF currents against sham IF and control

Interferential (IF) therapy is well documented as a therapeutic medium for pain relief. Despite widespread use by physiotherapists, there remains very limited laboratory or clinical evidence for the analgesic effect of IF.Fifty volunteers were randomly allocated to one of five groups ( n =10): control group (no treatment throughout); IF 100 Hz applied to the ipsilateral limb; IF 100 Hz applied to the contralateral limb; IF 30 Hz applied to the ipsilateral limb; Sham IF applied to the ipsilateral limb. Subjects were given repeated (six) cycles of cold-pressor pain and pain threshold scores were recorded for each cycle and compared using repeated measure ANOVA. Mean pain threshold values for all groups increased with the exception of the control group: where pain threshold values decreased across the cycles. Pain thresholds within IF treatment groups repeatedly increased, but no more than sham IF. IF at 30 Hz and 100 Hz applied to the contralateral limb offered more consistency in the rise in mean values, with the sham group demonstrating more variation in performance. However, statistical analysis failed to show any significant differences for the treatment effects either within groups across repeated cycles (P=0.123) or between the groups across cycles (P=0.552). IF does not significantly alter pain threshold.
Predictors of elderly persons' quality of life and health practices in Nigeria

The exploratory, descriptive and cross-sectional study which was undertaken from March 2008 to June 2009 examined the elderly person’s life styles in terms of nutritional preferences, health care measures adopted and why they were adopted to achieve healthy ageing. It also assessed whether there would be association between quality of life predictors (social support, living with spouse, finances and formal education) and health practices of the elderly persons in Osun State, Nigeria. The study was conducted in 10 purposively selected traditional core health districts in Ife/Ijesa zone of Osun State, Nigeria. Three hundred elderly 60 years and above were selected using key informants and snow balling techniques. Each of the 300 elderly persons identified one adult family member who was most involved in their care. Three hundred elderly persons and 300 caregivers were interviewed and fully participated in the study. Data collected were analyzed with the use of computer at two main levels in form of descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The study found that the participants traditional life styles, educational status, having personal money in old age and gender were major predictors of quality of life and positive health behaviors among the elderly. Variation on the influence of some other socio-demographic and economic characteristics of the participants such as living with spouse, peer relationship, type of marriages and residential location were also reported. In conclusion, elderly traditional life styles, educational background, state of finance, gender and marital stability contributed much to positive health practices and quality of life. Key words: Predictors, positive health practices, elderly Nigerians.
Factors influencing perception of pain among clients attending a Nigeria teaching hospital

This study examined the factors influencing the perception of pain among clients attending the pain and palliative care unit of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin. The population comprised of various clients with terminal illnesses such as cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), severe heart or kidney failure etc who experience pain, and attending the unit for treatment and follow-up care. Random sampling technique was used in selecting one hundred and five (105) subjects for the study. Questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection, and was drawn in line with a Likert’s rating scale. The result showed that level of awareness, age and educational level influenced pain perception. Chi-square was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that cultural practices had significant influence on perception of pain. Based on the results, it was recommended that regular seminars, and continuing education programmes should be organized for training nurses on pain management. Palliative nursing care should be recognized as a speciality in nursing. Key words: Hospice care, palliative nursing care, pain, pain perception, terminal illness.
Health-related quality of life in Thai peritoneal dialysis patients

Abstract Background: The Thai government has implemented the first peritoneal dialysis (PD) policy to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients under the universal health-care coverage in 2008. However, no data on Thai PD patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was available. Objectives: We measured the HRQOL of Thai PD patients, to compare it with those of other PD nations, and to assess the relationships between the HRQOL and socio-demographic and clinical data. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. About 100 PD patients were randomly selected from 10 hospitals registered with the National Health Security Office. Face-to-face interviews were conducted between October 2008 and February 2009. The face-to-face interview included WHOQOL-BREF, a generic HRQOL measure including four domains: physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains, and ESRD symptoms. Socio-demographic and clinical data was collected from medical records. Results: Mean age was 42.2±13.8 years; 53% were male. The four domain scores included 13.05±2.34, 13.40±2.67, 13.30±2.95, and 12.52±2.11 for physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains, respectively. The Thai sample had higher physical and psychological domain scores of WHOQOL-BREF than the Taiwanese sample (both p <0.01) but a lower environmental domain score than the Greek sample (p <0.01). No significant differences in social domain scores between the three nations were found. The multivariate regression analyses showed that ESRD symptoms were significantly and negatively associated with the four domains of WHOQOL-BREF (p <0.01 except the social domain p <0.05). The regression model also found that males were negatively associated with the psychological domain (p <0.05). Conclusion: This Thai PD sample yielded the highest domain scores on the psychological domain, followed by the social, the physical, and the environmental domains, respectively. The Thai PD had comparable HRQOL to other PD nations. ESRD symptoms and males were negatively associated with HRQOL in Thai PD patients
Trends and Conditions of Imprisonment in Nigeria

This article analyzes the trends and conditions of imprisonment in Nigeria. The analysis reveals an upsurge in prisons admissions, and a high proportion of detainees and inmates remanded pending trial. High rates of custodial morbidity, mortality and overcrowding, poor health care, and inadequate nutrition and food prevail in Nigerian prisons. The rate of execution increased between 1984 and 1990 under the Buhari and Babangida military regimes. Nigeria needs to deliberately adopt socioeconomic and political policies that help to prevent crimes and enhance the correction of offenders-instead of the current preoccupation with repressive policing and cruel and unusual punishments within the nation's prisons.
Use of a Shared Canister Protocol for the Delivery of Metered-Dose Inhalers in Mechanically Ventilated Subjects

BACKGROUND: Mechanically ventilated patients often need bronchodilators administered via a metered-dose inhaler (MDI). Unfortunately, there are no data examining the impact of shared canister delivery of MDI therapy in mechanically ventilated patients. METHODS: A prospective trial was conducted with subjects assigned to shared canister MDI therapy or single-patient canister MDI therapy. Outcomes assessed were occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), hospital mortality, length of stay, ventilator-associated events, and MDI costs. RESULTS: Among 486 screened patients, 353 were included for analysis of which 201 (56.9%) received shared canister MDI therapy and 152 (43.1%) received single-patient canister therapy. VAP (7.0% vs 4.6%, P = .35), hospital mortality (21.9% vs 20.4%, P = .73), and ventilator days (median [interquartile range] 3.1 [0.9–7.5] d vs 2.7 [1.2–7.1] d, P = .62) were similar between the shared canister and single-patient canister groups. We did not observe clinically important differences for ventilator-associated events between study groups in our logistic regression analysis (P = .07). There was a savings of $217/subject in the shared canister group due to the use of 299 fewer MDIs. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that shared canister MDI therapy compared with single-patient MDI use was associated with a significant cost savings and similar rates of VAP, hospital mortality, and length of stay but a greater prevalence of ventilator-associated events. This finding suggests that shared canister delivery of MDIs may be a cost-effective practice in mechanically ventilated patients. Based on our findings, further studies examining the overall safety of shared canister use in mechanically ventilated patients seem warranted before recommending their routine use. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration NCT01935388.)
Inequidad persistente en salud y acceso a los servicios para los pueblos indígenas de México, 2006-2012

Objetivo. Analizar la situacion socioeconomica, de salud y acceso a servicios en poblacion indigena de Mexico, en 2006 y 2012. Material y metodos. Analisis comparativo entre poblacion indigena y no indigena, a partir de informacion sociodemografica y de salud de la ENSANUT 2006 y 2012. Se estimaron diferencias de proporciones o medias al comparar indigenas/no indigenas para cada ano y entre 2006 y 2012. Resultados. Del total de la poblacion indigena de Mexico, 60% se ubica en el nivel socioeconomico mas bajo. El Seguro Popular incremento su cobertura de 14 a 61.9% en poblacion indigena en comparacion con la no indigena (de 10 a 35.7%). Sin embargo, no se observan cambios en utilizacion de servicios ambulatorios de salud (de 7.1 a 6.4%). La atencion hospitalaria del parto en indigenas aumento (de 63.8 a 76.4%) y persiste diferencia con no indigenas (93.9%). Conclusiones. Incrementar la cobertura del Seguro Popular presenta resultados heterogeneos en utilizacion de servicios de salud, mientras que el Programa Oportunidades no incide en mejoria de condicion socioeconomica de poblacion indigena.
From Here to There: Vision, Value, and the Advancement of Respiratory Care

The GPS app on my smartphone was on, and my destination loaded. I was on my way. I knew where I was going and I knew the general direction I would have to travel, but I had a number of options concerning the route. Since I didn't know which one would be best, I was content to leave that decision up
Development of an Event Stream Processing System for the Vehicle Telematics Environment

In this letter, we present an event stream processing system that can evaluate a pattern query for a data sequence with predicates. We propose a pattern query language and develop a pattern query processing system. In our system, we propose novel techniques for run‐time aggregation and negation processing and apply our system to stream data generated from vehicles to monitor unusual driving patterns.
Residual postural instability in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Abstract Introduction: Patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) often experience postural instability as well as brief episodes of vertigo. Objective: To assess the effect of a canalith repositioning manoeuvre (CRM) on the improvement in postural instability in patients with idiopathic BPPV and to find factors that would predict this improvement. Methods: Nineteen patients with a diagnosis of BPPV of canalithiasis pathology participated in this study. After diagnosis, all patients were treated by CRM. Postural stability was assessed by a Sensory Organization Test (SOT) with six sensory conditions before and one week after successful CRM. Results: CRM improved postural instability in 36.8% (7/19) of patients. There was a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-repositioning SOT 4, 5, 6 and the composite score (CS). Compared to the control age-matched normative values, there was a statistically significant difference at SOT 4, 5, 6 and CS pre-repositioning and only a statistically significant difference at SOT 6 post-repositioning. Individually, some patients still had abnormal SOT scores. Residual imbalance was reported in about two-thirds of our series of patients (12/19) after successful CRM. Patients with right-sided BPPV significantly improved their SOT scores after repositioning, while females reported more residual imbalance. Conclusions: Successful CRM improved significantly postural instability in BPPV, but not in all patients. Better postural stability was encountered after CRM in patients with right-sided BPPV, which may be attributed to being the more commonly affected side or due to a more severe lesion.