Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patient expectations of emergency department care: phase II--a cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVES To explore emergency department (ED) patient expectations regarding staff communication with patients, wait times, the triage process and information management. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional English-language telephone survey among patients aged 18 years or older who visited the EDs in the Calgary Health Region in 2002. Survey items were based on a preceding qualitative study. RESULTS Of the 941 surveys, 837 were analyzed. Patients placed the highest importance on the explanation of test results (96.5%), a description of circumstances that would require the patient to return to the ED (94.4%), the use of plain language (92.1%) and the reason for the tests (90.8%). Seventy-six percent of patients felt that ED staff should update patients every 30 minutes or less, 51.3% expected patients with non-life threatening problems should wait <1 hour, and 58.3% expected that the tests should be done within 1 hour. Almost two-thirds of the patients (64.4%) believed that the most serious patients should be seen first; 59.3% felt that the seriousness of medical concern should be determined by a triage nurse, and 63.9% thought that their personal health records should be immediately available to the emergency physician without their consent. The actual length of stay was significantly longer than expected length of stay for all patient groups, with Canadian Emergency Department Triage and Acuity Scale Levels IV and V patients expecting a shorter wait than patients in more urgent triage groups. Triage level effects on other expectations were not observed. CONCLUSIONS ED patient expectations appear to be similar across all triage levels. Patients value effective communication and short wait times over many other aspects of care. They have expectations for short wait times that are met infrequently and are currently unattainable in many Canadian EDs. Although it may be neither feasible nor desirable to meet all patient expectations, increased focus on wait times and staff communication may increase both ED efficiency and patient satisfaction.
Cation and protein composition of ovarian follicular fluid of the pig: relation to follicle size.

Follicular fluid was collected from dissected as well as undissected follicles of the pig. Follicular fluid volume and ovarian follicle weight were highly correlated and this correlation was used to estimate follicular size of undissected follicles. Concentrations of sodium, potassium, calcium, and protein were measured in follicular fluids taken from various-sized ovarian follicles. Mean concentrations (mM) of the atoms in the follicular fluid were Na (128.4 ± 4.5), K (15.9 ± 0.08), and Ca (2.34 ± 0.04). Protein concentration in the follicular fluid was 65 mg/ml. Relative to previous reports of serum concentrations of these ions the follicular fluid was K rich and Na poor. Furthermore, the concentrations of the ions and protein remained stable over the range of follicle sizes analyzed, although all components were negatively correlated with increasing size of ovarian follicle. The largest follicles analyzed contained a concentration of K approximately one-half that seen in all other sized follicles. Regression analyses indicated that the decreased amounts of Ca and K were statistically significant. Removal of ovarian follicles from the ovary and subsequent incubation in phy’iological saline (9% NaCl) resulted in the loss of calcium ions from the follicular fluid. These data indicate that a major portion of follicle growth occurs without niarked alterations in the concentrations of the osmotically active atoms, Na and K. However, the elevated levels of K atoms in the follicular fluid may indicate that secretory mechanisms are involved in fluid accumulation. The significance of these results to the process of follicular fluid accumulation are discussed.
The Response of Water Willow Justicia americana to Different Water Inundation and Desiccation Regimes

Abstract American water willow Justicia americana has been planted in reservoirs to provide important littoral habitat for fish because of its ability to form dense stands, spread along shorelines, grow in water up to 1.2 m deep, and withstand harsh conditions. The response of water willow to periods of inundation or desiccation has not previously been quantified and is critical for evaluating its potential success in reservoirs. We tested the inundation response of plants at depths of 0.75, 1.50, and 2.25 m for 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks. Response to desiccation was investigated using drying durations of 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks. In addition, 2- and 4-week drying periods were tested separately in June, July, and August. Number of leaves, total height, and total dry weight were measured as indicators of plant condition. Condition rapidly declined after inundation for 4 weeks at all experimental depths and plants did not recover by the end of the experiment. A significant decrease in height and increase in leaf numb.
Expression of a Human Cytochrome P450 in Yeast Permits Analysis of Pathways for Response to and Repair of Aflatoxin-Induced DNA Damage

ABSTRACT Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a human hepatotoxin and hepatocarcinogen produced by the mold Aspergillus flavus. In humans, AFB1 is primarily bioactivated by cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) and 3A4 to a genotoxic epoxide that forms N7-guanine DNA adducts. A series of yeast haploid mutants defective in DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoints were transformed with human CYP1A2 to investigate how these DNA adducts are repaired. Cell survival and mutagenesis following aflatoxin B1 treatment was assayed in strains defective in nucleotide excision repair (NER) (rad14), postreplication repair (PRR) (rad6, rad18, mms2, and rad5), homologous recombinational repair (HRR) (rad51 and rad54), base excision repair (BER) (apn1 apn2), nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) (yku70), mismatch repair (MMR) (pms1), translesion synthesis (TLS) (rev3), and checkpoints (mec1-1, mec1-1 rad53, rad9, and rad17). Together our data suggest the involvement of homologous recombination and nucleotide excision repair, postreplication repair, and checkpoints in the repair and/or tolerance of AFB1-induced DNA damage in the yeast model. Rev3 appears to mediate AFB1-induced mutagenesis when error-free pathways are compromised. The results further suggest unique roles for Rad5 and abasic endonuclease-dependent DNA intermediates in regulating AFB1-induced mutagenicity.
The noblest experiment of them all: learning from the national channeling evaluation.

The National Long Term Care Demonstration (channeling) was a social scientist's dream. Advance planning for the multistate social experiment was meticulous, resources for the evaluation were substantial, and the study boasted a randomized design. Considerable effort was made to standardize the essential elements of the experimental intervention and to target it to people believed likely to benefit. In seeking definitive answers to what many policymakers seem to view as long-term care's most persistent and nagging question-whether community care can be a cost-effective alternative to nursing home care -channeling consciously tried to avoid many of the pitfalls that made previous long-term care demonstrations so difficult to inter-pret. These included improper targeting of clientele, incomparable controls, questionably valid measures, and lack of an independent variable (the latter due to failure to implement the experimental program as intended and/or crossover between experimental and control groups). As the articles in this issue attest, the evaluators were aware of problems with precursor studies and alert to possible biases in their own. They were precise in their measurement strategies and analytic methods, and scrupulous in interpreting their results. (Unfortunately, despite the sophistication of the evaluators and the conscious efforts of the technical assistants to standardize the interventions, not all of the problems with internal validity could be resolved.) A massive, ten-state, collaborative demonstration such as chan-Address
Managing Records: A Handbook of Principles and Practice

The importance of records and information management (RIM) in providing 2003, Managing records: a handbook of principles and practice, Facet Publishing. If you want to get Managing Records: A Handbook of Principles and Practice pdf eBook copy write by good author Shepherd. Elizabeth/ Yeo, Geoffrey, you can. Handbook for Principles and Practice of Gynecologic Oncology: residents, and specialist trainees in the diagnosis and management of gynecologic cancers.
Residents' perceptions of casino development in Korea: the Kangwon Land Casino case.

Ki-Joon Back Choong-Ki Lee This study was developed to examine the underlying relationships among the sociodemographic variables of casino community residents, the perceptions of potential benefits and costs, and the support for casino development based on the social exchange theory. The results show that social and economic benefits were most significant in determining the level of support for casino development. None of the demographic variables significantly affected support level. Based on the results of this study, casino operators and policymakers should make efforts to minimize the negative social factors and maximize social and economic benefits if they want support from residents for further development of casino businesses.
The Development of Retinal Ganglion Cell Decussation Patterns in Postnatal Pigmented and Albino Ferrets

The decussation patterns of retinal ganglion cells in postnatal pigmented and albino ferrets were examined by using retrograde axonal tracers. Following unilateral injections into the optic pathway of newborn pigmented ferrets, ∼ 13 000 cells were labelled in the ipsilateral retina. The majority (11 500) of these were located in temporal retina. Postnatally, the numbers of cells projecting ipsilaterally from temporal retina fell by 49%. High rates of loss were observed in both the smaller uncrossed projection from nasal retina (92%) and also in the crossed projection from temporal retina (84%). After injections on the day of birth, a decussation line was not obvious in the crossed projection: ≥ 14 000 labelled cells were found in temporal retina. Double tracer studies showed that very few of these cells had axons which projected bilaterally. The numbers of ipsilaterally projecting cells labelled in neonatal albino ferrets was dramatically reduced. Only ∼ 2500 were labelled in temporal retina following injections at birth. As in pigmented ferrets, about half of these cells subsequently died. The reduced uncrossed projection in albino neonates was asociated with an increase in the crossed projection from temporal retina, in which ∼ 21 000 cells were labelled following injections at birth. These results suggest that differential postnatal ganglion cell death establishes the adult decussation pattern in the contralateral retinal projection but merely refines the pattern already established in the uncrossed projection. Postnatal ganglion cell death plays no significant role in generating the abnormal projections found in albino ferrets.
Endotoxin as a drug target

ObjectiveTo review the preclinical and clinical evidence that antiendotoxin therapeutic strategies are potentially useful in the prevention and treatment of septic shock. Study designA critical review of the literature over the past 30 yrs relating basic and clinical research on the therapeutic value of endotoxin as a target for the prevention and treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. Main ResultsBacterial endotoxin is a potent and predominant microbial mediator that induces an intense inflammatory and procoagulant response by elements of the innate immune response. This macromolecule is capable of inducing lethal septic shock in experimental animals, and a large number of preclinical studies consistently demonstrate the survival advantage of endotoxin inhibition in experimental models of sepsis. Clinical studies indicate that endotoxin may be found in the systemic circulation in the majority of humans with septic shock. Endotoxemia is largely independent of the nature of the infecting microorganism despite the fact that this molecule is specifically found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria only. Antiendotoxin strategies studied thus far have not provided reproducible survival benefits in clinical trials in septic patients. ConclusionsDespite compelling evidence of the critical importance of endotoxin in the pathogenesis of Gram-negative bacterial sepsis in preclinical investigations and numerous clinical interventional trials, the utility of antiendotoxin approaches to significantly reduce the mortality rate in human septic shock remains unproven. Ongoing clinical trials with specific endotoxin inhibitors should determine the potential value of this therapeutic approach to the management of septic shock.
Clinical effects of buspirone in social phobia: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.

BACKGROUND The results of open pilot studies suggest that the serotonin-1A (5-HT1A) receptor agonist buspirone might be effective in social phobia. METHOD In the present study, the efficacy of buspirone was investigated in patients with social phobia using a 12-week double-blind placebo-controlled design. Thirty social phobic patients (DSM-IV) were treated with either buspirone 30 mg daily or placebo. Efficacy of treatment was measured using the Social Phobia Scale (subscores anxiety and avoidance) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety. RESULTS Taking a reduction of 50% or more on the Social Phobia Scale as a criterion for clinically relevant improvement, only 1 patient on buspirone and 1 on placebo were classified as responder to treatment. A subjective and clinically relevant improvement was reported by 4 patients (27%) on buspirone and 2 patients (13%) on placebo. There were no statistically significant differences between buspirone and placebo on any of the outcome measures. Generally speaking, buspirone was well tolerated. CONCLUSION The results of the study do not support the results of open studies, in which a reduction of social anxiety and social avoidance was reported in patients with social phobia treated with buspirone.
Influence of Long-Term Glycemic Control on the Development of Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy in Pediatric Patients with Type I Diabetes

Few data are available about autonomic dysfunction in children and adolescents with diabetes. Especially in the early stages, computer-based heart-rate analysis may be sensitive enough to detect cardiac autonomic neuropathy where standard methods fail (1,2). We used the newly developed ProSciCard-System (Medi-Syst, Linden, Germany) (3) to measure subclinical signs of cardiac autonomic neuropathy in pediatric patients with type I diabetes and to determine the influence of long-term giycemic control, age, and duration of diabetes on the incidence of autonomic dysfunction. In 204 pediatric patients (106 girls and 98 boys; mean age, 16.5 ± 4.3 years; mean duration of diabetes, 7.9 ± 5.3 years) and in 28 healthy normal children (14 girls and 14 boys; age range, 10-19 years), the coefficient of variation in supine and standing position during deep breathing and the Valsalva ratio were determined, and the Ewing test (max./min., 30:15 ratio) was performed. The data were recorded prospectively by computer documentation (4). The results of normal and abnormal test responses are summarized in Table 1. The median of all HbAlc values during the entire duration of diabetes increased significantly in patients with two or more pathological test results (P < 0.001 by KruskalMetabolic Control
Postnatal growth of children born small for gestational age

A large, population‐based representative study (n = 3656) has shown that the vast majority of healthy, full‐term, singleton infants born small for gestational age (SGA) achieve catch‐up growth during the first 2 years of life. Indeed, most of the increase in height SDS occurs by 2 months of age. Children born SGA who do not show postnatal catch‐up growth and so remain short at 2 years of age, have a higher risk of short stature (< −2 SDS) in later life, with a relative risk at 18 years of age of 5.2 if born light and of 7.1 if born short. □ Small for gestational age, postnatal growth, catch‐up growth, final height, population study
Formation of myocardium after the initial development of the linear heart tube.

Well after formation of the primary linear heart tube, the mesenchymal cardiac septa become largely myocardial, and myocardial sleeves are formed along the caval and pulmonary veins. This second wave of myocardium formation can be envisioned to be the result of recruitment of cardiomyocytes by differentiation from flanking mesenchyme and/or by migration from existing myocardium (myocardialization). As a first step to elucidate the underlying mechanism, we studied in chicken heart development the formation of myocardial cells within intra- and extracardiac mesenchymal structures. We show that the second wave of myocardium formation proceeds in a caudal-to-cranial gradient in vivo. At the venous pole, loosely arranged networks of cardiomyocytes are observed in the dorsal mesocardium from H/H19 onward, in the atrioventricular cushion region from H/H26 onward, and in the proximal outflow tract (conus) from H/H29 onward. The process is completed at H/H stage 43. Subsequently, we determined the potential of the different cardiac compartments to form myocardial networks in a 3D in vitro culture assay. This analysis showed that the competency to form myocardial networks in vitro is a characteristic of the myocardium that is flanked by intra- or extracardiac mesenchyme, i.e., the inflow tract, atrioventricular canal, and outflow tract. These cardiac compartments can be induced to form myocardial networks by a temporally released or secreted signal that is similar throughout the entire heart. Atrial and ventricular compartments are not competent and do not produce the inducer. Moreover, cardiac cushion mesenchyme was found to be able to (trans-)differentiate into cardiomyocytes in the in vitro culture assay. The combined observations suggest that a common mechanism and molecular regulatory pathway underlies the recruitment of mesodermal cells into the cardiogenic lineage during this second wave of myocardium formation through the entire heart.
A practical synchronization algorithm for IEEE 802.15.4a UWB receivers

This paper proposes a two-step synchronization algorithm for UWB receivers in accordance with IEEE 802.15. 4a standard. A low data rate, low complexity receiver is developed using a typical energy detection UWB non-coherent analog front-end, which consists of a square-law device and an integrate-and-dump ADC with sub-Nyquist sampling rates. A coarse synchronization algorithm, often neglected in literature, is introduced by continuously correlating received samples' segments with a self-generated template until a simple threshold condition is satisfied. A proposed fine synchronization algorithm exploits the low sampling rates of the system and does not need to measure noise power, which helps reduce the receiver complexity (and power consumption). Finally, we assess, by simulation, the impact of different sampling rates and the synchronization lengths on bit-error-rate (BER) performance of the system.
Intraperitoneal chemotherapy for ovarian carcinoma: results of long-term follow-up.

PURPOSE To determine long-term survival and predictors of recurrence in a retrospective cohort of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer treated with intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS Records were reviewed of 433 patients who received IP therapy for ovarian cancer between 1984 and 1998; follow-up data were available for 411 patients. IP therapy was provided as consolidation therapy (n = 89), or for treatment of persistent (n = 310) or recurrent (n = 12) disease after surgery and initial systemic therapy; therapy usually consisted of platinum-based combination therapy. Statistical analysis included tests for associations between potential prognostic factors, and between prognostic factors and survival. Survival probabilities were estimated by Kaplan-Meier methods, and prognostic factors for survival were evaluated by a Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS The mean age of patients was 52 years (range, 25 to 76 years). Distribution by stage and grade was as follows: stage I, 7; II, 24; III, 342; IV, 52; not available (NA), 8; and grade 1, 30; 2, 99; and 3, 289; NA, 15. The median survival from initiation of IP therapy by residual disease was none, 8.7 years; microscopic, 4.8 years; less than 1 cm, 3.3 years; more than 1 cm, 1.2 years. In a multivariate analysis, the only significant predictors of long-term survival were grade and size of residual disease at initiation of IP therapy. CONCLUSION Prolonged survival was observed in selected patients receiving IP platinum-based therapy. It is not possible to determine the contribution of IP therapy to survival in this study. A relationship between size of disease at the initiation of IP therapy and long-term survival was demonstrated.
Distinct expression patterns of ER alpha and ER beta in normal human mammary gland.

AIM Two oestrogen receptors (ERs) have been identified to date-the "classic" ER alpha and the more recently described ER beta. Although much is known about ER alpha at the mRNA and protein levels, our knowledge of the expression and distribution of ER beta protein is much more limited. The aim of this study was to compare the cellular distribution of ER alpha and ER beta in normal human mammary gland. METHODS Formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded material was obtained from reduction mammoplasty specimens, normal tissue adjacent to breast tumour, or fibroadenoma. Sections were immunohistochemically stained for ER alpha, ER beta, and the progesterone receptor. The staining pattern for each antibody was evaluated and compared. RESULTS ER alpha was restricted to the cell nuclei of epithelial cells lining ducts and lobules. Although ER beta was also seen in these cells, additional strong staining was detected specifically in the cell nuclei of myoepithelial cells. Occasional staining was seen in surrounding stromal and endothelial cell nuclei and in lymphocytes. CONCLUSIONS ER subtypes have distinct distribution patterns in the normal mammary gland. The widespread distribution of ER beta suggests that it may be the dominant ER in the mammary gland where it may be acting as a natural suppressor.
Quantitation in Positron Emission Computed Tomography: 3. Effect of Sampling

Effect of insufficient transverse sampling on quantitative positron emission computed tomography (ECT) was investigated with computer simulation and measurements on parallel bar and line source phantoms. Aliasing artifacts were observed and were found to be dependent on both the configuration and the location of imaged objects. Images of parallel bar phantoms were found to have aliasing artifacts similar in characteristics to aliasing on one-dimensional signals. In line source images, aliasing effects were manifested as variations in amplitude and full width at half maximum resolution (FWHM) for sources at even slightly different locations in the field of view. It was found that employing sampling distances smaller than one-third of the intrinsic detector FWHM eliminated noticeable aliasing artifacts. Image resolution was also found to be affected by the sampling distance. For a sampling distance equal to one-half of the intrinsic detector FWHM, the imaging FWHM is about 10% worse than the intrinsic FWHM. Selection of sampling distance in noisy environments is discussed. Parallel bar phantoms are shown to have advantages over line sources in the evaluation of sampling and resolution performance of ECT scanners.