Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Providing health information to older adults

Providing information to older adults is essential for informed decision-making and good health. Because there are significant deficits in providing information verbally, health professionals must use written information as well. Most studies have focused on the content and literacy of documents. However, the legibility and formatting are critically important for older adults, who are more likely to suffer with visual impairment. Providing written information that is tested for appropriate reading level and for presentation is necessary to ensure that older adults can use the information given. There are a number of tools available that test these aspects of written information, but not one tool that is universally accepted. Further research regarding the design and presentation of written information for older adults is necessary.
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ACUTE DIARRHEAL DISEASES AMONG CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS OF AGE IN TEHRAN, IRAN

Background: Acute diarrhea is the fifth leading cause of death due to infectious diseases and responsible for 16.2% of the infectious disease burden in Iran. This study assessed the incidence and some determinants of acute diarrheal diseases in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Patients and methods: Using cluster sampling, a population based survey was conducted among 2095 children aged 6 to 60 months in the southern districts of Tehran during May 2005. The incidence of acute diarrhea during the past 2 weeks, the duration and frequency of diarrhea, acute diarrhea in siblings and socioeconomic determinants were gathered by a questionnaire. Results: Totally, 10.3% of children experienced new onset of diarrhea during the past two weeks with the average number of episodes of 2.8 per child. Half of the cases were 6-18 months of age (p<0.001). The mean (±standard deviation) duration of disease was 4.5±2.1 days and the frequency of diarrhea was 5.1±5 episodes per day. In 9.1% of the families, other cases of concurrent acute diarrhea were reported in siblings (OR=1.29, 95%CI:0.67-2.47). The mean age of the mothers was 31±7.5 years. Less than 4% of the parents were illiterate. Conclusion: Childhood acute diarrhea remains a public health concern in Tehran. Improving the environmental sanitation and personal hygiene and raising the socioeconomic status of the population will contribute to the elimination of the underlying causes of acute diarrhea.
Clinical response to statins: Mechanism(s) of variable activity and adverse effects

Abstract Statins represent a major advance in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, a significant risk factor for atherosclerosis. There is, however, notable interindividual variation in the cholesterolemic response to statins, and the origin of this variability is poorly understood; pharmacogenetics has attempted to determine the role of genetic factors. Myopathy, further, has been reported in a considerable percentage of patients, but the mechanisms underlying muscle injury have yet to be fully characterized. Most statins are the substrates of several cytochrome P450s (CYP). CYP polymorphisms may be responsible for variations in hypolipidemic activity; inhibitors of CYPs, e.g. of CYP3A4, can significantly raise plasma concentrations of several statins, but consequences in terms of clinical efficacy are not uniform. Pravastatin and rosuvastatin are not susceptible to CYP inhibition but are substrates of the organic anion-transporting polypeptide (OATP) 1B1, encoded by the SLCO1B1 gene. Essentially all statins are, in fact, substrates of membrane transporters: SLCO1B1 polymorphisms can decrease the liver uptake, as well as the therapeutic potential of these agents, and may be linked to their muscular side-effects. A better understanding of the mechanisms of statin handling will help to minimize adverse effects and interactions, as well as to improve their lipid-lowering efficiency.
Not an Ordinary Killer— Just an Ordinary Guy

The Murder in Britain Study was designed to examine in detail different types of murder. Using a subset of case files from this study, men who murder other men (MM;n = 424) are compared with men who murder an intimate partner (IP;n = 106) to reflect on the relative conventionality of each group. In terms of many of the characteristics of childhood and adulthood, the IP murder group differs from theMMgroup and appears to be more “ordinary” or “conventional. ” However, the IP group is less conventional in that they are more likely to have intimate relationships that had broken down, to have used violence against a previous woman partner as well as against the victim they killed, and to “ specialize” in violence against women.
The clinical value of Fufangkushen injection in the treatment of stomach cancer: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects of Fufangkushen injection combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of stomach cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS The relevant clinical trials about Fufangkushen injection combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of stomach cancer were search in the data bases of Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochran and CNKI. The data related to objective response rate, Karnofsky (KPS) score and toxicity were extracted and pooled using the Stata 11.0 software. Dichotomous data was presented as risk ratio (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI). RESULTS Thirteen relevant trials were included in this meta-analysis. Heterogeneity test indicated there was no statistical heterogeneity among the studies, thus the fixed effects mode was used to calculat the results. Pooled results indicated that the objective response rate (ORR) and KPS score improvement in Fufangkushen chemotherapy group was significant higher than that of control group (RR = 1.24, P < 0.05). Synthesis data also demonstrated the Fufangkushen injection can significantly decrease the risk of developing granulocytopenia in stomach cancer patients treated with chemotherapy (RR = 0.67,P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Fufangkushen injection combined with chemotherapy can increase the objective response rate, improve the quality of life and decrease the risk of developing granulocytopenia in patients with stomach cancer.
Invasive and non-invasive techniques for detecting portal hypertension and predicting variceal bleeding in cirrhosis: A review

Abstract Portal hypertension is a severe syndrome that may derive from pre-sinusoidal, sinusoidal, and post-sinusoidal causes. As a consequence, several complications (i.e. ascites, oesophageal varices) may develop. In sinusoidal portal hypertension, hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) is a reliable method for defining the grade of portal pressure, establishing the effectiveness of the treatment, and predicting the occurrence of complications; however, some questions exist regarding its ability to discriminate bleeding from non-bleeding varices in cirrhotic patients. Other imaging techniques (transient elastography, endoscopy, endosonography, and duplex Doppler sonography) for assessing causes and complications of portal hypertensive syndrome are available and may be valuable for the management of these patients. In this review, we evaluate invasive and non-invasive techniques currently employed to obtain a clinical prediction of deadly complications, such as variceal bleeding in patients affected by sinusoidal portal hypertension, in order to create a diagnostic algorithm to manage them. Again, HVPG appears to be the reference standard to evaluate portal hypertension and monitor the response to treatment, but its ability to predict several complications and support management decisions might be further improved through the diagnostic combination with other imaging techniques.
Programa Bolsa Família e segurança alimentar e nutricional no Brasil: revisão crítica da literatura

OBJETIVO: Revisar criticamente os estudos que avaliaram os impactos do Programa Bolsa Familia (PBF) na promocao da seguranca alimentar e nutricional no Brasil. METODOS: Foram consultadas as bases de dados Biblioteca Cochrane, LILACS, Medline e SciELO, bem como os portais de organizacoes publicas. Foram selecionados os estudos que utilizaram dados primarios e excluidos estudos baseados em dados secundarios, artigos de revisao, estudos que nao permitiram estabelecer uma associacao entre PBF e seguranca alimentar e nutricional, bem como os estudos que avaliaram a seguranca do alimento no que se refere apenas a qualidade sanitaria. RESULTADOS Foram selecionados 10 estudos, dos quais cinco concluiram que o PBF teve um impacto positivo na seguranca alimentar e nutricional das familias beneficiarias. Entretanto, tres estudos constataram um aumento do consumo de alimentos de maior densidade calorica e baixo valor nutritivo. Essa mudanca no habito alimentar e um fator de risco para o desenvolvimento do sobrepeso, obesidade e das doencas cronicas nao transmissiveis. CONCLUSOES: A garantia de seguranca alimentar e nutricional exige programas que contemplem tanto o combate a desnutricao quanto ao sobrepeso e a obesidade. Programas de distribuicao de renda, como o PBF, podem contribuir mais efetivamente para o bem-estar nutricional dos beneficiarios quando combinados com outros tipos de intervencoes, como acoes de promocao de alimentacao saudavel.
Lipid profile changes in patients with rheumatic diseases receiving a treatment with TNF-α blockers: A meta-analysis of prospective studies

Abstract Background. Some studies showed an anti-atherogenic effect of TNF-α blockers on lipid profile, but these data have been challenged. Objective. To perform a meta-analysis on lipid profile changes induced by TNF-α blocker treatment. Methods. Prospective studies on rheumatic patients receiving TNF-α blockers and providing before-and-after treatment values of triglycerides (TGs), total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDLc), LDL-cholesterol (LDLc), and atherogenic index (AI) were included. Standardized mean differences (SMD) in lipid profile were analyzed at short-term (2–12 weeks), middle-term (13–24 weeks), and long-term (25–52 weeks) assessments. Results. Thirty articles (1707 patients) were included. TNF-α blockers determined an increase in TC at short-term, middle-term, and long-term assessments (SMD: 0.20 mmol/L [95% CI: 0.04, 0.35]; SMD: 0.27 mmol/L [95% CI: 0.08, 0.46]; SMD: 0.22 mmol/L [95% CI: 0.01, 0.43]). HDLc increased only at the short-term assessment (SMD: 0.19 mmol/L [95% CI: 0.10, 0.28]), and TGs achieved a significant increase at the long-term assessment (SMD: 0.19 mmol/L [95% CI: 0.04, 0.34]). LDLc and AI were not affected by TNF-α blocker treatment. Conclusions. Slight but significant increases in TC occurred without any significant change in LDLc and AI. Changes in HDLc and TGs were not consistent among the different time point assessments. These quantitative changes in lipid profile do not seem to be able to explain cardiovascular risk improvement reported in patients receiving TNF-α blockers. Further studies on other mechanisms are needed to address this issue.
Ultrasonography-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for cervical lymph node metastasis from thyroid carcinoma.

PURPOSE The aim was to explore the efficacy and safety of ultrasonography-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for cervical lymph node metastases from thyroid carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS Eight patients with previous total thyroidectomy and radioiodine therapy were enrolled in this study. A total of 20 cervical lymph node metastases were confirmed by percutaneous biopsy. Participants underwent ultrasonography-guided RFA treatment for all confirmed metastatic lymph nodes. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and sonoelastography were performed to rapidly evaluate treatment responses before and shortly after RFA. Routine follow-up consisted of conventional US, CEUS, sonoelastography, thyroglobulin level, and necessary fine needle aspiration cytology. RESULTS All eight patients were successfully treated without obvious complications. Post-RFA CEUS showed that total metastatic lymph nodes were ablated. The sonoelastographic score of ablated area elevated significantly shortly after RFA (P < 0.001). With a mean follow-up of 9.4 ± 5.1 months, there were no evidences of recurrence at ablated sites; however, two new cervical recurrent lymph nodes occurred in one case, which was successfully ablated as well. The mass volume shrinkages of the ablated nodes were observed in all cases. We found that 5 treated lymph nodes disappeared, 4 were reduced more than 80%, 9 were reduced between 50% and 80%, and 2 were reduced less than 50%. At the last follow-up evaluation, the serum thyroglobulin levels had decreased in 6 of 8 patients. CONCLUSION Ultrasonography-guided percutaneous RFA for cervical lymph node metastasis of thyroid malignancy is a feasible, effective, and safe therapy. This procedure shows a nonsurgical therapeutic option for metastatic lymph nodes in patients with difficult reoperations or inoperations, it may reduce or delay a large number of highly invasive repeated neck dissections.
MMP-12 as a new marker of Stanford-A acute aortic dissection

Abstract Background. The study evaluated macrophage cytokines and macrophage metalloprotease (MMP)-12 levels in patients with Stanford-A acute aortic dissection (AAD) and in patients with critical carotid artery stenosis (CAS) compared with patients matched for age, sex, and traditional cardiovascular risk factors (RF). The aim was to identify possible early serum markers of risk for atherosclerotic complications. Materials and methods. We selected 65 patients: 23 AAD patients, 21 CAS patients, 21 RF, and 10 healthy subjects (HS). In each patient and control serum, levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and MMP-12 were assessed by ELISA. Results. A significant increase of MMP-12, IL-6, and IL-8 levels in AAD versus CAS was found. Moreover, MMP-12 was shown to be significantly higher in AAD versus RF, but not in CAS versus RF. A significant increase of IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, TNF-α, and VEGF levels was observed both in AAD and CAS versus RF. Conclusions. The results suggest that MMP-12 may be considered to be a specific marker of Stanford-A AAD. Furthermore, the study confirmed that in AAD and CAS macrophage cytokines play a key role in the progression of the atherosclerotic disease towards complications.
A review of the default mode network in aging and dementia based on molecular imaging

Abstract The default mode network (DMN) is a unique idea that attracts many neuroimaging researchers to examine alterations in the resting-state brain physiology in normal aging and psychiatric and neurological disorders predominantly by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In dementias, especially in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), one of the recent topics in an imaging domain is depicting its pathological substance, β-amyloid protein (Aβ) in vivo using positron emission tomography (PET). This Aβ accumulation was not only discovered in AD but also frequently in cognitively normal people. Indeed, there is evidence that subjects with high Aβ deposition tend to be considered as those who are very likely to develop AD in the future. Recent reports also show that the DMN in AD patients is affected in conjunction with Aβ deposition. Our recent study of the cognitive and physiological impact of Aβ accumulation on the DMN function in normal elderly people using PET has shown that the amount of Aβ deposits is negatively correlated with the DMN function, and the lower function of the DMN is associated with poorer working memory performance. As expected, Aβ deposition in the brain, however minute the degree of its accumulation can be, may cause neuronal discoordination in the DMN along with poor working memory in normal aging. As literature on fMRI-based DMN activity is profuse, here, we discuss the pathophysiological aspect of the DMN from a molecular imaging viewpoint.
Composition of foods and dishes commonly consumed in villages of the Gezira area of Sudan

The water, protein, fat, glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, starch and energy contents of the important grains, seeds, legumes, fruits, vegetables and dishes are given. These values may be used for nutritional surveys and for nutritional recommendations in future. The composition of foodstuffs and ready‐to‐eat‐meals of the Gezira area of the Sudan is insufficiently known. Therefore, the main foodstuffs and ready‐to‐eat‐meals have been collected, their recipes described and their composition chemically estimated.
Hippocampus and consciousness

Abstract An important assumption concerning the physiology of consciousness is that all varieties of conscious experience are closely related to each other and, hence, are subserved by the same neural mechanism. There are several considerations that lead us to implicate the hippocampus in the generation of conscious perception and, ultimately, of conscious experiences of all kinds. Firstly, conscious perception of external events is intricately linked with the formation of episodic (declarative) memories, a key function attributed to the hippocampus. Secondly, conscious experience is allocentric and contextualized. Consciousness creates or simulates an image of the world that appears to surround us and to be independent of our observation of it. What is characteristic of wakeful consciousness and dreaming alike is that objects or events are experienced as being embedded in an external, that is, allocentric, frame of space and time. The hippocampus has been implicated in the rapid formation and memorization of allocentric representations that embed objects or events in a world context. Thirdly, the hippocampus is ideally positioned to bind information processed in different sensory association cortices. It is argued that rapidly forming patterns of neuronal ensemble firing in the hippocampus, particularly in region CA3, which encode arbitrary associations between objects and their spatiotemporal and emotional context, that is, associations between information derived from different neocortical processing streams, define the informational content of consciousness. Evidence suggestive of an important contribution of the hippocampus to conscious observation, mental imagery, dreaming, conscious anticipation of outcomes, and hallucinations will be reviewed.
Reproductive ecology of female South American fur seals at Punta San Juan, Peru.

The breeding patterns and foraging ecology of female South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis) were studied at Punta San Juan, Peru from January 1983 to March1987. The particular interest of fur seals in Peru is that they face high air temperatures while breeding on land and unpredictable fluctuations in their food supply due to El Nit'lo events. This is in contrast to most other fur seals which breed in temperate to sub-polar environments and have a more predictable food supply . Scat analysis showed that Peruvian fur seals feed mainly on small epiand meso-pelagic fish, mainly anchovetas (Engraulis ringens) . Dive records showed that they hunt at night when their prey are closer to the surface. During El Nino years, when anchovetas occur at greater depths than usual, fur seals make a greater number of deep dives, thus having to spend more energy to obtain prey than in non-El Nit'lo years . Low prey availability also result in mothers having to spend longer periods than usual foraging at sea and young pups dying of starvation during their mothers' extended abscences. The breeding pattern of fur seals in Peru differs little from that of other species of fur seal. Breeding occurs within a defined season from mid-October to late December. Males are larger than females and defend territories on land to prevent intruders from having access to females . Females produce a single pup. Mating takes place 8-10 days after pupping . From then on, females divide their time between suckling their young on land and foraging at sea. In contrast to most other fur seals which wean their young before or at 12 months of age, fur seals in Peru are weaned from between 12 and 36 months. While on land, females move to and from the waterline to thermoregulate . This results in absence of a defined harem structure because females traverse through the territories of several males each day. Daily movements to and from the waters' edge by females carrying young pups, combined with high female densities ashore, resulted in deaths of 40% of pups born throughout the breeding season in 19-84 and 1985. Pup weights and survival to one year of age varies as a function of prey availability at sea . When adult anchovetas are scarce, pup weights and survival are reduced. lnterannual differences in food availability and pup growth rates may be related also to variations in weaning age. The extended and variable duration of lactation of fur seals in Peru may be an adaptive response to depending on a marine environment that fluctuates unpredictably.
Dress code for professionals

Society has developed elevated expectations of professional behaviour on the parts of all of its health care professionals. These expectations include competence, integrity, a caring attitude, and an engaging manner. The public also expects professionals to maintain high standards of language, communication skills, hygiene, and professional appearance. The health care professional’s appearance is an extension of the culture of the organisation and will reflect on how customers, patients, and colleagues view the health care professional and the profession of Pharmacy.
Building Community Pharmacy Work System Capacity for Medication Therapy Management

Questions within and outside of the pharmacy profession frequently arise about a community pharmacy’s capacity to provide patient-care services and maximize contributions to public health. It is surmised that community pharmacy locations must possess specific attributes and have identifiable resources within the location to effectively initiate and optimize their capacity to deliver patient care services in conjunction with medication distribution and other services. The purpose of this paper is to describe three research domains that can help pharmacies make the transition from “traditional” business models to “patient care centered” practices: (1) Work System Design, (2) Entrepreneurial Orientation, and (3) Organizational Flexibility. From these research domains, we identified 21 Work System Design themes, 4 dimensions of Entrepreneurial Orientation, and 4 types of Organizational Flexibility that can be used in combination to assist a practice location in transforming its business model to a “patient care centered” practice. The self-assessment tools we described in this paper could help realign an organization’s activities to initiate and optimize capacity for patient care.