Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of technology-based distance physical rehabilitation interventions on physical activity and walking in multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract Objective: To determine the effectiveness of technology-based distance physical rehabilitation interventions in multiple sclerosis (MS) on physical activity and walking. Data sources: A systematic literature search was conducted in seven databases from January 2000 to September 2016. Randomized controlled trials of technology-based distance physical rehabilitation interventions on physical activity and walking outcome measures were included. Methods: Methodological quality of the studies was determined and a meta-analysis was performed. In addition, a subanalysis of technologies and an additional analysis comparing to no treatment were conducted. Results: The meta-analysis consisted of 11 studies. The methodological quality was good (8/13). The Internet, telephone, exergaming, and pedometers were the technologies enabling distance physical rehabilitation. Technology-based distance physical rehabilitation had a large effect on physical activity (standard mean difference (SMD) 0.59; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.38 to 0.79; p < 0.00001) compared to control group with usual care, minimal treatment, and no treatment. A large effect was also observed on physical activity (SMD 0.59; 95% CI 0.34 to 0.83; p < 0.00001) when compared to no treatment alone. There were no differences in walking and the subanalysis of technologies. Conclusions: Technology-based distance physical rehabilitation increased physical activity among persons with MS, but further research on walking in MS is needed. Implications for Rehabilitation Technology-based distance physical rehabilitation interventions increase physical activity among persons with MS. This study was unable to identify if the technologies (Internet, telephone, or combinations) lead to differing effects on physical activity or walking in the distance physical rehabilitation interventions in MS. Further research on the effectiveness of technology-based distance physical rehabilitation interventions on walking in MS is needed.
Effect of the histone deacetylase inhibitor SNDX‐275 on Fas signaling in osteosarcoma cells and the feasibility of its topical application for the treatment of osteosarcoma lung metastases

Patients with lung metastases from osteosarcoma (OS) have poor response to salvage therapy. Understanding the mechanisms involved in the metastatic process of OS may lead to new effective therapeutic approaches. The authors reported previously that up‐regulation of the Fas receptor by transfecting OS cells with Fas plasmid inhibited the in vivo growth of metastases in the lungs.
Perspectives on tactile intervention for children with cerebral palsy: a framework to guide clinical reasoning and future research

Abstract Purpose: Many children with cerebral palsy (CP) are known to experience tactile impairments. Research evaluating specific interventions to manage this is, however, minimal. This paper seeks to consolidate current literature and provide a framework to help clinicians and researchers think strategically about tactile treatment selection and future research planning. Method: The framework is described via a novel analogy – “The Apartment Block Theory”. The theory describes the relative effectiveness of three intervention strategies aimed at overcoming a poorly responsive tactile system: (1) Pressing the buzzer – providing repeated passive tactile stimulation at the periphery; (2) Sneaking in the door – providing active tactile-enhanced motor training that capitalises on the opportunity to provide high-dose tactile input during motor interventions; and (3) Connecting another way – providing visually enhanced touch strategies with the aim of enhancing tactile function, which can be compared to phoning the apartment as an alternative to using the buzzer. Results: Using this theory, the paper describes which sub-groups of children with CP may benefit from each intervention strategy when considering their capabilities in visual, motor, and attention domains. Conclusions: This theory can assist clinicians to provide effective interventions and researchers to make informed future research decisions to optimise tactile function for children with CP. Implications for Rehabilitation Although tactile impairments are reported to be common in children with cerebral palsy, very few successful interventions are reported in the literature. Visually enhanced touch is a successful strategy for treating tactile impairments in children with cerebral palsy who have sufficient vision and attention. Combining intentional tactile input with upper limb movement training may improve tactile function in children with cerebral palsy who have sufficient movement and attention. In children who have complex co-morbidities, including both visual and movement impairments, it may be necessary to consider providing passive tactile stimulation in tactile intervention.
Validity of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in patients with stroke

Abstract Background: The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is the most widely used measure for assessing executive functions in patients with stroke. However, no study has examined the ecological, discriminative and convergent validities of the WCST in patients with stroke. This study aimed to examine the above validities of the WCST in patients with stroke. Methods: Ninety-eight patients were administered the WCST, two measures of activities of daily living and one cognitive measure. Seven indexes of the WCST were used in this study. Results: Two WCST indexes (“total number correct” and “number of categories completed”) had moderate correlations with two measures of activities of daily living (Pearson’s r = 0.39–0.49). The other indexes showed low or moderate correlations with two measures of activities of daily living (r = 0.26–0.53). The results of independent t-test showed statistically significant difference between patients with and without disability for the seven WCST indexes (p = 0.001–0.013) and nonsignificant differences between patients with different affected regions of the brain (p > 0.05). Moderate correlations (r = 0.35–0.54) were found among the seven WCST indexes and one cognitive measure. Conclusions: The WCST has poor to adequate ecological validity, acceptable discriminative validity and acceptable convergent validity in patients with stroke. The two WCST indexes (“total number correct” and “number of categories completed”) are recommended for use to reflect the degree of living independence in patients with stroke. Implications for rehabilitation The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test showed poor to adequate ecological validity, acceptable discriminative validity, and acceptable convergent validity in patients with stroke. Two indexes of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (i.e., “total number correct” and “number of categories completed”) can adequately reveal the degrees of living independence in patients with stroke.
A phase 2 trial of complete resection for stage IV melanoma

On the basis of retrospective experience at individual centers, it appears that patients with stage IV melanoma who undergo complete resection have a favorable outcome compared with patients with disseminated stage IV disease. The Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) performed a prospective trial in patients with metastatic melanoma who were enrolled before complete resection of their metastatic disease and provided prospective outcomes in the cooperative group setting.
The dual task effect on gait in adults with intellectual disabilities: is it predictive for falls?

Abstract Purpose: Falling is an important health issue in adults with intellectual disabilities. Their cognitive and motor limitations may result in difficulties with dual tasking (walking and talking), which increases fall risk. Therefore, we assessed the dual task effect on gait in adults with intellectual disabilities, if this dual task effect is predictive for falls, and if this is more predictive than regular walking. Method: Gait characteristics of 31 adults with intellectual disabilities without Down syndrome were assessed with the GAITRite at comfortable speed and during dual tasking (conversation). Falls were collected over a three-month follow-up period. Results: During dual tasking, participants walked slower, with a lower cadence, increased stride time, and shorter stride lengths. They spend less time in swing and single support phase than at comfortable speed. Also swing and single support time became more variable. The dual task effect and walking at comfortable speed were not predictive for falls, although medium effect sizes were found. Conclusions: Dual tasking affects gait in adults with intellectual disabilities. This is an important finding for safe community participation, and must be considered while interacting with adults with intellectual disabilities during daily activities. Possible negative consequences of distractors should be kept in mind. More research is needed to better understand the predictive value of gait for falls. Implications for Rehabilitation Having a conversation while walking affects the gait pattern of adults with intellectual disabilities, possible negative consequences of distractors should be kept in mind. The dual task effect on the width of the gait pattern and stride time variability had the largest effect sizes with future falls, this potential relationship should be kept in mind in clinical practice. The dual task effect on gait is important to consider with regard to safe community participation. Future studies are needed to better understand the predictive value of gait for falls, and for cutoff points to be used in clinical practice.
Characteristics and correlates of coping with multiple sclerosis: a systematic review

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review was to examine coping strategies that people with multiple sclerosis use, and to identify factors that influence their coping pattern. Method: This systematic review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for synthesizing descriptive quantitative research. The following databases were searched from the inception of databases until December 2016: Ovid (Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO), Science Direct, Web of Science, and Scopus. Manual search was also conducted from the reference lists of retrieved articles. Findings related to the patterns of coping with multiple sclerosis and factors influencing coping with multiple sclerosis were extracted and synthesized. Results: The search of the database yielded 455 articles. After excluding duplicates (n = 341) and studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria (n = 27), 71 studies were included in the full-text review. Following the full-text, a further 21 studies were excluded. Quality appraisal of 50 studies was completed, and 38 studies were included in the review. Synthesis of findings indicated that people with multiple sclerosis use emotional and avoidance coping strategies more than other types of coping, particularly in the early stages of the disease. In comparison to the general population, people with multiple sclerosis were less likely to use active coping strategies and used more avoidance and emotional coping strategies. The pattern of coping with multiple sclerosis was associated with individual, clinical and psychological factors including gender, educational level, clinical course, mood and mental status, attitude, personality traits, and religious beliefs. Conclusions: The findings of this review suggest that considering individual or disease-related factors could help healthcare professionals in identifying those less likely to adapt to multiple sclerosis. This information could also be used to provide client-centered rehabilitation for people living with multiple sclerosis based on their individual responses and perceptions for coping. Implications for rehabilitation Engagement in coping with multiple sclerosis has been associated with individual factors and neuropsychological functions. Considering individual and disease-related factors would allow healthcare professionals to provide more tailored interventions to maintain and master coping with multiple sclerosis. People living with multiple sclerosis should be empowered to appraise and manage ability to cope based on the contextual evidence (individual and clinical condition). Rehabilitation services should move beyond physical management incorporating behavioral aspects for better functioning in living with multiple sclerosis.
Human Cadaveric Dermal Matrix for Management of Challenging Surgical Defects on the Scalp

Management of large postoperative scalp defects after Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) can present a challenge to surgeons. When contemplating repair options, a number of factors must be considered, including cosmesis, function, ease of wound care, and patient-specific comorbidities. For large or deep scalp defects, options include full or partial primary closure, adjacent tissue transfer, placement of a free flap, immediate or delayed grafting, and second-intention healing. Whenever possible, immediate closure of the surgical wound using primary closure, flap, or graft is preferable, because this results in faster healing and reliably good cosmetic outcomes, but in certain situations in which patient factors prohibit prolonged surgery or when postoperative wound care may be suboptimal, the wound healing process can be augmented by the use of a biologic scaffold, such as human cadaveric dermis.
Predictors of depression and life satisfaction in visually impaired people

Abstract Background: Visual impairment can lead loss of functional ability, necessity of accommodations and assistive technologies or having to rely on others for help. This can bring about feelings of sadness, dependency, inadequacy, and fear, which can put a person at risk for depression and affect one’s satisfaction with life. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of socio-demographic factors, disability-related factors, optimism, pessimism, self-esteem and social support on depression, and life satisfaction in visually impaired people. Methods: A total of 94 visually impaired people completed the measures of socio-demographic and disability-related characteristics, optimism and pessimism, self-esteem, social support, depression and life satisfaction, administered by the authors. Correlational and hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relations and test the model for predicting depression and life satisfaction. Results: The results have shown that depression was negatively related to the level of education, optimism, self-liking, self-competence, support from friends, family and coworkers, and positively related to comorbidity and pessimism. Life satisfaction was positively related to education, socio-economic status, optimism, self-liking, self-competence and support from friends, family and coworkers, and negatively to pessimism. Results have further shown that depression levels were predicted by education, comorbidity, optimism and self-liking, and that self-liking mediated the relationship between optimism and depression. Life satisfaction was predicted by optimism, pessimism, self-liking, friends’ support, and depression. Further analysis suggested that the path from optimism to life satisfaction goes through self-liking, friends’ support, and depression. Pessimism showed indirect effects through self-liking but also had direct effects on life satisfaction. Conclusions: Focusing on optimism, pessimism, self-esteem, and social functioning of visually impaired is important in preventing depression and promoting life satisfaction, and should be a part of rehabilitation practices. Implications for Rehabilitation Screening for depression and mental health problems should be a part of rehabilitation process. Changes in the perception of future outcomes should be monitored and addressed throughout rehabilitation process in order to boost realistic optimism and prevent discouragement and hopelessness. Frequent feedback and positive reinforcement about a persons’ progress and ability should be given throughout rehabilitation process in order to promote positive view of oneself and prevent self-esteem problems. Visually impaired people should be encouraged to socialise outside of their families and participate in social activities. This can be integrated in rehabilitation process as a part of everyday homework.
A Comparative Study of Central Corneal Epithelial, Stromal, and Total Thickness in Males With and Without Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Purpose: To compare the central corneal epithelial thickness (CET), stromal thickness (CST), and total thickness (CCT) in males with and without primary open-angle glaucoma and to determine the factors associated with corneal thickness. Methods: A case–control study was conducted to evaluate 116 male patients at the Miami Veterans Affair Medical Center. Subjects with available anterior segment optical coherence tomography images (Cirrus HD-OCT, Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc, Dublin, CA) were retrospectively classified into 2 groups by glaucoma status. CET, CST, and CCT measurements between the groups were compared. Associations between thickness and other variables of interest were also evaluated. Results: The 2 groups were similar with respect to race and ethnicity. Mean age of patients in the glaucoma group (70.3 ± 8.9) was higher than in the nonglaucoma group (66.0 ± 11.7), P < 0.03. Individuals who self-identified as black had lower CST (447.8 ± 29.0 &mgr;m) and CCT (503.0 ± 30.5 &mgr;m) compared with whites (CST: 470.0 ± 31.7 &mgr;m; CCT: 525.1 ± 32.4 &mgr;m), P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0002, respectively. In a similar manner, individuals with glaucoma had lower CST (453.4 ± 32.5 &mgr;m) and CCT (507.3 ± 33.8 &mgr;m) than that of those without glaucoma (CST: 465.2 ± 31.2 &mgr;m; CCT: 521.5 ± 31.5 &mgr;m), P = 0.05 and P = 0.02, respectively. CET, CST, and CCT were negatively correlated with the number of antiglaucoma medications (r = −0.2, r = −0.22, and r = −0.25, respectively), P = 0.05 for all. Conclusions: Individuals with glaucoma have lower CST and CCT measurements compared with individuals without glaucoma. An increased number of glaucoma medications were associated with lower thickness measurements.
Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C single‐nucleotide polymorphisms in the nucleotide excision repair pathway correlate with prolonged progression‐free survival in advanced ovarian cancer

The nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway is the principal DNA repair pathway for removing bulky platinum DNA adducts. Suboptimal DNA repair may lead to improved response to platinum agents. The objective of this study was to determine whether single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in NER pathway genes could be markers of platinum response in ovarian cancer.
The psychometric properties of a modified client-centred rehabilitation questionnaire in an Australian population

Abstract Purpose: To identify the face validity of the Client-Centred Rehabilitation Questionnaire (CCRQ) and to determine the internal consistency reliability and factorial validity of a modified CCRQ. Materials and methods: This study was conducted in 2 phases. Phase 1 consisted of 5 focus groups to examine the face validity of the CCRQ, resulting in the development of a modified CCRQ. Phase 2 consisted of a multi-site cross sectional survey, involving 408 rehabilitation inpatients, to examine the internal consistency reliability and factorial validity of the modified CCRQ. Chronbach’s coefficient alpha, composite reliability coefficients, and single factor congeneric models with maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis were used. Results: Based on feedback from the focus groups the CCRQ was modified with the word ‘rehabilitation’ replacing ’program’ throughout. The three negatively worded items had poor item-to-total correlations of <0.3. Removing these items resulted in subscale alphas of 0.74–0.86 and composite reliability coefficients of 0.66–0.87. Six of the seven sub-scales had good model fit and the other one had moderate fit following removal of the negatively worded item. Conclusions: This study supports the underlying structure and internal consistency of the modified CCRQ. Implications for Rehabilitation Person-centredness is an important characteristic of effective rehabilitation service delivery that warrants measurement. A modified Client-Centered Rehabilitation Questionnaire has been found to have good face validity, internal consistency reliability and construct validity in an Australian sample of inpatient rehabilitation patients. Use of a modified Client-Centered Rehabilitation Questionnaire incorporating the 7 sub-scales in the original Client-Centered Rehabilitation Questionnaire is supported for use in inpatient rehabilitation. Both sub-scale and item level responses to the modified Client-Centered Rehabilitation Questionnaire provide detailed feedback to rehabilitation service providers looking for opportunities to make their services more person-centred.
The impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus on cancer‐specific survival

Earlier studies have suggested that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) alters the risk of developing a variety of cancers, but little has been known about the impact of T2DM on cancer prognosis. On the basis of nationwide population‐based Swedish registries, the authors of this report compared the cause‐specific survival among cancer patients with and without T2DM.
Endoscopic Photocoagulation in the Management of Epithelial Downgrowth

Purpose: Epithelial downgrowth, a rare but devastating complication of intraocular surgery and penetrating ocular trauma, remains a therapeutic dilemma in ophthalmology. We present an interventional case report of an instance successfully treated with diode laser photocoagulation by using a purely endoscopic approach. Methods: Case report and literature review. Results: An 81-year-old woman initially presented with worsening visual acuity, diffuse corneal edema, band keratopathy, peripheral anterior synechiae, and an atypical iris cyst with angle involvement. Histopathologic examination of the iris cyst revealed nonkeratinized stratified squamous epithelium consistent with epithelial downgrowth. After thorough treatment of the epithelial downgrowth by an endoscopic technique, penetrating keratoplasty and cryoablation of the remaining corneal tissue were performed for visual rehabilitation. One year after treatment, no signs of recurrence were present. Conclusions: Diode photocoagulation by using an endoscopic approach potentially offers an effective, safe, and minimally invasive surgical approach for the management of epithelial downgrowth in patients with corneal opacity.
Return to work in low‐income Latina and non‐Latina white breast cancer survivors: A 3‐year longitudinal study

Previous research has found an 80% return‐to‐work rate in mid‐income white breast cancer survivors, but little is known about the employment trajectory of low‐income minorities or whites. We set out to compare the trajectories of low‐income Latina and non‐Latina white survivors and to identify correlates of employment status.