Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intervention to improve the quality of antimicrobial prescribing for urinary tract infection: a cluster randomized trial

intervention to improve the quality and quantity of antibiotic prescribing for UTI in primary care: the SIMPle study. The SIMPle study includes interactive, multimedia and electronic components with integrated feedback for both GPs and patients (12). The intervention was developed based on explicit theoretical frameworks and following social marketing principles. The results from the intervention include papers on the developmental formative research (ref), process evaluation (ref), economic evaluation (ref) and the evaluation of changes in quality and quantity of prescribing (ref) and its impact on subsequent resistance and clonal groups (ref). This paper reports the evaluation of the SIMPle study on the quality of prescribing measured against national antibiotic prescribing guidelines
Elimination of S100B and renal function after cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVES To determine the biologic half-life of the S100B protein and to investigate if the elimination of S100B depends on glomerular filtration rate (GFR). DESIGN Prospective human study. SETTING University hospital. PARTICIPANTS Sixteen patients who underwent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. INTERVENTIONS Shed mediastinal blood (autotransfusion) was returned to the patients postoperatively and used to study the kinetics of S100B. Iohexol was infused simultaneously to estimate GFR. S100B was measured at 0, 20, 40, 60, and 180 minutes after infusion. Iohexol was measured at 180 and 240 minutes after infusion. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS S100B followed first-order kinetics, and the biologic half-life for S100B was determined to be 25.3 +/- 5.1 minutes. GFR was determined to be 63.8 +/- 34.4 mL/min. No correlation was found between GFR and S100B half-life. CONCLUSIONS The elimination of S100B after cardiac surgery is faster than reported earlier and not affected by a moderate decrease in GFR. This finding is important when evaluating S100B levels after cardiac surgery.
Apoptosis and Regeneration of Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells After Extended Cold Preservation and Transplantation of Rat Liver

Background. Sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs) are particularly susceptible to cold ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. We have examined the process of injury and recovery of graft after cold-preserved liver transplantation, with special focus on the proliferation of SECs and regulatory mechanisms involved. Methods. Male SD rats were divided into two groups according to length of cold preservation time in University of Wisconsin [UW] solution of graft: UW1h group and UW12h group. Graft function, incidence of apoptosis, proliferation of SECs and the expression of related regulatory factors were assessed after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Results. SECs are more sensitive to apoptosis induced by cold I/R injury compared with hepatocytes. Using bromodeoxyuridine and rat endothelial cell antigen-1 double immunostaining assay, SECs exhibited a delayed proliferation in comparison with hepatocytes, reaching a peak at 72 hr in UW1h group and 96 hr in UW12h group, respectively. Vascular endothelial growth factor increased at 24 hr after reperfusion, and peaked at 72 hr in both groups. Flt-1 and flk-1 expression was found to be mainly limited to SECs, with a peak in expression occurring between 72 and 96 hr, which coincided with the peak in SEC proliferation in UW1h group. However, flt-1 was found to be reduced significantly at any time throughout the experiments in UW12h group compared to sham. Conclusion. The delayed recovery of rat liver after extended cold preservation and transplantation correlates with a retarded regeneration of SECs due to increased apoptosis and reduced expression of flt-1. These results suggest that SECs play an important role in cold-preserved liver transplantation.
Detection methods for a low-cost accelerometer-based approach for driver drowsiness detection

Thousands of accidents and fatalities occur each year due to drowsy and fatigued drivers who choose to operate motor vehicles despite their reduced level of alertness. Actively monitoring Steering Wheel Movements (SWM) has been an important and well documented method for the detection of drowsy driving. Despite the efficacy of the SWM method, it has yet to be widely deployed widely on motor vehicles as a practical means for individual early detection due to the cost prohibitive nature of current methods as well as complexity of installation and implementation. Due to these limitations, potentially lifesaving methods based on SWM monitoring have not been widely implemented. This paper assesses the efficacy of a proposed low-cost accelerometer-based method of SWM monitoring by extracting various SWM parameters and using the extracted data to train machine learning algorithms. Experimental results suggest that the use of adequately trained Support Vector Machines with Accelerometer-based SWM can be a valuable tool in the detection of drowsy driving and the reduction in death and injuries.
Population health effects of air quality changes due to forest fires in British Columbia in 2003: estimates from physician-visit billing data.

BACKGROUND Major forest fires near populated areas during 2003 exacted a huge economic toll on communities in British Columbia. We designed a study to examine associations between PM2.5 and PM10 levels and physician visits in two affected communities. METHODS Measurements of 24-hour averages of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) obtained from the monitoring network of the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection were used to define weeks where forest fires resulted in increases in ambient PM. Weekly rates of physician visits for respiratory (ICD-9 codes 460-519), cardiovascular (390-459) and mental illnesses (290-319) obtained through the Medical Services Plan of BC, were compared for 2003 and aggregates of the 10 previous years. RESULTS Both the Kelowna and Kamloops regions experienced five weeks of elevated 24-hour average PM levels, although maximum levels in Kelowna were greater. In the Kelowna region, increases in physician visits for respiratory diseases of between 46 and 78% above 10-year mean rates were observed for three weeks during the forest fire period. Similar effects were not observed in Kamloops. Effects on visits for cardiovascular diseases or mental disorders were not seen in either community. INTERPRETATION Forest fire smoke was associated with an excess of respiratory complaints in Kelowna area residents. The lack of a similar effect in Kamloops is likely due to the population being exposed to lower levels of PM. The absence of apparent cardiovascular health effects may be due to selective effects of forest fire smoke on respiratory tract disease.
Cost-effectiveness of a supplementary class-based exercise program in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of a class-based exercise program supplementing a home-based program when compared with a home-based program alone. In addition, we estimated the probability that the supplementary class program is cost-effective over a range of values of a decision maker's willingness to pay for an additional quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Methods: The resource use and effectiveness data were collected as part of the clinical trial detailed elsewhere. Unit costs were estimated from published sources. The net benefit approach to cost-effectiveness analysis is used to estimate the probability of the intervention being cost-effective. Results: The addition of a supplementary class-based group results in an increase in QALYs and lower costs. For all plausible values of a decision maker's willingness to pay for a QALY, the supplementary class group is likely to be cost-effective. Conclusions: The addition of a class-based exercise program is likely to be cost-effective and, on current evidence, should be implemented.
A novel stereovision algorithm for obstacles detection based on U-V-disparity approach

Reliable classification of the 3D driving environment is critical for obstacle detection applications. An efficient obstacle detection algorithm using stereovision, and based on U-V-disparity maps analysis is presented in this paper. Obstacles detection through U-V-disparity is based on the calculation of the disparity map generated from a stereo matching step. Our algorithm is based on novel horizontal and vertical obstacles alignment's extraction with road plane estimation. U-V-disparity enables to classify 3D road scenes into free regions and nontransversal areas or simply obstacles. Validation results demonstrate the efficiency, and the robustness of the proposed algorithm in different environments (indoors and outdoors), weather conditions and light illuminations (day or night).
Anakinra for Colchicine‐Resistant Familial Mediterranean Fever: A Randomized, Double‐Blind, Placebo‐Controlled Trial

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is refractory to colchicine prophylaxis in 10–20% of patients. In a number of patient series, treatment with anakinra, an interleukin‐1–blocking agent, prevented FMF attacks in those with colchicine‐resistant FMF. This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anakinra in the treatment of colchicine‐resistant FMF, using a randomized controlled trial.
The effect of L-arginine on absorption of a glucose-electrolyte solution in humans

Editor-in-Chief Tommy Boone, PhD, MBA Review Board Todd Astorino, PhD Julien Baker, PhD Steve Brock, PhD Lance Dalleck, PhD Eric Goulet, PhD Robert Gotshall, PhD Alexander Hutchison, PhD M. Knight-Maloney, PhD Len Kravitz, PhD James Laskin, PhD Yit Aun Lim, PhD Lonnie Lowery, PhD Derek Marks, PhD Cristine Mermier, PhD Robert Robergs, PhD Chantal Vella, PhD Dale Wagner, PhD Frank Wyatt, PhD Ben Zhou, PhD
Metabolic syndrome in men with prostate cancer undergoing long-term androgen-deprivation therapy.

PURPOSE Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers in men. Men with recurrent or metastatic PCa are treated with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), resulting in profound hypogonadism. Because male hypogonadism is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome and men with PCa have high cardiovascular mortality, we evaluated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in men undergoing long-term ADT. PATIENTS AND METHODS This was a cross-sectional study. We evaluated 58 men, including 20 with PCa undergoing ADT for at least 12 months (ADT group), 18 age-matched men with nonmetastatic PCa who had received local treatment and were recently found to have an increasing prostate-specific antigen (non-ADT group), and 20 age-matched controls (control group). Men in the non-ADT and control groups were eugonadal. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. RESULTS Mean age was similar among the groups. Men on ADT had significantly higher body mass index and lower total and free testosterone levels. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher in the ADT group compared with the non-ADT (P < .01) and control (P = .03) groups. Among the components of metabolic syndrome, men on ADT had a higher prevalence of abdominal obesity and hyperglycemia. Androgen-deprived men also had elevated triglycerides compared with controls (P = .02). The prevalence of hypertension and low high-density lipoprotein levels were similar. CONCLUSION These data suggest that metabolic syndrome was present in more than 50% of the men undergoing long-term ADT, predisposing them to higher cardiovascular risk. Abdominal obesity and hyperglycemia were responsible for this higher prevalence. We recommend prospective studies to further delineate this association.
Social network effects of nonlifesaving early-stage breast cancer detection on mammography rates.

OBJECTIVES We estimated the effect of anecdotes of early-stage, screen-detected cancer for which screening was not lifesaving on the demand for mammography. METHODS We constructed an agent-based model of mammography decisions, in which 10 000 agents that represent women aged 40 to 100 years were linked together on a social network, which was parameterized with a survey of 716 women conducted through the RAND American Life Panel. Our model represents a population in equilibrium, with demographics reflecting the current US population based on the most recent available census data. RESULTS The aggregate effect of women learning about 1 category of cancers-those that would be detected but would not be lethal in the absence of screening-was a 13.8 percentage point increase in annual screening rates. CONCLUSIONS Anecdotes of detection of early-stage cancers relayed through social networks may substantially increase demand for a screening test even when the detection through screening was nonlifesaving.
Molecular Determinants of Substrate Specificity for Semliki Forest Virus Nonstructural Protease

ABSTRACT The C-terminal cysteine protease domain of Semliki Forest virus nonstructural protein 2 (nsP2) regulates the virus life cycle by sequentially cleaving at three specific sites within the virus-encoded replicase polyprotein P1234. The site between nsP3 and nsP4 (the 3/4 site) is cleaved most efficiently. Analysis of Semliki Forest virus-specific cleavage sites with shuffled N-terminal and C-terminal half-sites showed that the main determinants of cleavage efficiency are located in the region preceding the cleavage site. Random mutagenesis analysis revealed that amino acid residues in positions P4, P3, P2, and P1 of the 3/4 cleavage site cannot tolerate much variation, whereas in the P5 position most residues were permitted. When mutations affecting cleavage efficiency were introduced into the 2/3 and 3/4 cleavage sites, the resulting viruses remained viable but had similar defects in P1234 processing as observed in the in vitro assay. Complete blockage of the 3/4 cleavage was found to be lethal. The amino acid in position P1′ had a significant effect on cleavage efficiency, and in this regard the protease markedly preferred a glycine residue over the tyrosine natively present in the 3/4 site. Therefore, the cleavage sites represent a compromise between protease recognition and other requirements of the virus life cycle. The protease recognizes at least residues P4 to P1′, and the P4 arginine residue plays an important role in the fast cleavage of the 3/4 site.
Pre-Conception Planning: The relationship's the thing

There is no doubt that congenital malformations occur more frequently in the offspring of diabetic mothers than in the offspring of normal control subjects. In studies of laboratory animals, malformations can be induced in vivo and in vitro by creating conditions mimicking those of maternal diabetes, e.g., hyperglycemia and/or hyperketonemia as well as a number of other factors (1). It is also clear that in human pregnancy, major structural malformations have occurred by the time organogenesis is complete, ~6-8 weeks after conception or 8-10 weeks after the last menstrual period (2). Studies of glycosylated hemoglobin during the 1st trimester have demonstrated a significant relationship between poor metabolic control in diabetic pregnancy and the likelihood of congenital malformations (3,4). A number of case series and case-control studies have demonstrated that the establishment of normal or near-normal metabolic control before diabetic pregnancy or during very early gestation can materially reduce the malformation rate (5,6). The authors of a statewide surveillance study in Maine reported that the institution of a program of pre-conception counseling throughout the region was associated with a fourfold reduction in malformations when the mother received this service (7). Furthermore, pre-conception care has been demonstrated to be cost-effective (8,9). Thus, pre-conception counseling and the near normalization of glycemia in individuals with diabetes who are planning pregnancy have come to be understood as rare opportunities for intervention to prevent major suffering, at a very reasonable cost. For a more detailed review of the evidence supporting this viewpoint, the reader is referred to a technical review of the subject published by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in 1996 (10). Earlier in the same year, the ADA had published a position statement on pre-conception care of women with diabetes (11), in which specific goals and a management plan were outlined. In that position statement, the potential problem of unplanned pregnancy was noted: . However, the problem of unplanned pregnancies must also be considered. All diabetic women of child-bearing potential should be counseled about the risks of pregnancy and methods of family planning.
Muscle pains following the use of suxamethonium in caesarean section.

SUMMARY The incidence of severe muscle pain following Caesarean section in 130 patients in which suxamethonium was used was 15.7 per cent. Gallamine 20 mg prior to induction did not reduce the incidence of pain but resulted in technical difficulty which reduced the safety and effectiveness of the anaesthetic technique. It was concluded that the incidence of pains was not high enough to justify discarding the anaesthetic technique described. The use of non-depolarizing relaxants prior to induction as a method of reducing the incidence of pains following suxamethonium should be avoided in obstetric anaesthesia.
THE PHYSICAL MECHANISM OF TRANSITION IN BLUFF BODY WAKES

Abstract The physical nature of the initial transition to three-dimensionality of flow past a circular cylinder has been the subject of considerable debate in the literature. Of several proposed mechanisms, the possibility of classification as an elliptical instability is re-examined in this article. Detailed Floquet analysis of the transition shows clear evidence of the growth of an elliptic instability in the forming vortex cores followed by amplification by the strong strain field in the hyperbolic region between the forming and shed vortices. In fact, it appears that the wake immediately behind the cylinder shows distinct signs of a cooperative elliptic instability as found previously for interacting counter-rotating vortices. Further downstream, after the vortices have been shed into the wake, the instability again grows in the cores. Three-dimensional simulations provide a semi-quantitative estimate of the “elliptic content” of instability, and confirm that elliptic instability seems to be dominant in the initiation and maintenance of the 3-D perturbation.
Blood Pressure Excursions Below the Cerebral Autoregulation Threshold During Cardiac Surgery are Associated With Acute Kidney Injury*

Objectives:To determine whether mean arterial blood pressure excursions below the lower limit of cerebral blood flow autoregulation during cardiopulmonary bypass are associated with acute kidney injury after surgery. Setting:Tertiary care medical center. Patients:Four hundred ten patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Design:Prospective observational study. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:Autoregulation was monitored during cardiopulmonary bypass by calculating a continuous, moving Pearson’s correlation coefficient between mean arterial blood pressure and processed near-infrared spectroscopy signals to generate the variable cerebral oximetry index. When mean arterial blood pressure is below the lower limit of autoregulation, cerebral oximetry index approaches 1, because cerebral blood flow is pressure passive. An identifiable lower limit of autoregulation was ascertained in 348 patients. Based on the RIFLE criteria (Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss of kidney function, End-stage renal disease), acute kidney injury developed within 7 days of surgery in 121 (34.8%) of these patients. Although the average mean arterial blood pressure during cardiopulmonary bypass did not differ, the mean arterial blood pressure at the limit of autoregulation and the duration and degree to which mean arterial blood pressure was below the autoregulation threshold (mm Hg × min/hr of cardiopulmonary bypass) were both higher in patients with acute kidney injury than in those without acute kidney injury. Excursions of mean arterial blood pressure below the lower limit of autoregulation (relative risk 1.02; 95% confidence interval 1.01 to 1.03; p < 0.0001) and diabetes (relative risk 1.78; 95% confidence interval 1.27 to 2.50; p = 0.001) were independently associated with for acute kidney injury. Conclusions:Excursions of mean arterial blood pressure below the limit of autoregulation and not absolute mean arterial blood pressure are independently associated with for acute kidney injury. Monitoring cerebral oximetry index may provide a novel method for precisely guiding mean arterial blood pressure targets during cardiopulmonary bypass.
Cytogenetic , Hematological and Enzymes Levels Parameters in the Biomonitoring of Agricultural Workers Exposed To Pesticides in the State of Piauí , Brazil

Studies have demonstrated genotoxic effects by the presence of micronucleus in exfoliated cells from the buccal mucosa of agricultural workers exposed to pesticides. This study has assessed the genotoxic effects of pesticides on 61 agricultural workers from the state of Piauí, Brazil. 31 individuals were exposed to pesticides and 30 are from the same area, but were not involved in pesticides application. Cytogenetic damage were evaluated through micronucleus test in cells from the buccal mucosa and some parameters such as hematological and levels of enzymes. Exposed individuals exhibited cytogenetic damage with increased number of micronuclei in cells from the buccal mucosa in comparison with subjects from the control group with significant statistical difference (P < 0.01). We perceive that there is a statistically no significant (P > 0.05) increase in levels of plasmatic and eritrocytaireacetylcholinesterase and no statistically significant increase of phosphatase alkaline were detected in exposed workers in relation to the control group. No association was found in relation to smoking habits, alcohol consumption, protection utensils and the biomarkers analyzed or the biochemical analysis. Analysis of variance revealed a correlation between occupational exposure to pesticides of workers in Piauí and the presence of micronuclei (P < 0.05).
A Field Study of Mental Subnormality in Children

A description is given of a census investigation of imbecility and idiocy within a group of children comprising 10 one‐year classes in a population of altogether 265,000 individuals in Sweden. The incidence of mental subnormality of these degrees was 7.1 per 1,000 boys and 5.8 per 1,000 girls in the ages 2–11 years. The distribution of different clinical types in this material was studied and the educability in the different clinical groups is discussed. The occurrence of complications concerning pregnancy, delivery and birth weight, as well as of signs of cerebral injury during the first week of life, was investigated in certain groups of the material. Half of the cases in the sporadic idiopathic oligophrenic group had early potential injury or signs of cerebral injury of the type described above. In a control material of unselected newborns, the corresponding figure was only 20 per cent. A comparison with a special, unselected series of children with cerebral palsy seemed to show that abnormal conditions concerning pregnancy, child birth and birth weight can be traced in sporadic idiopathic imbecility and idiocy almost as often as in cerebral palsy.