Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What do Web-Use Skill Differences Imply for Online Health Information Searches?

Background Online health information is of variable and often low scientific quality. In particular, elderly less-educated populations are said to struggle in accessing quality online information (digital divide). Little is known about (1) how their online behavior differs from that of younger, more-educated, and more-frequent Web users, and (2) how the older population may be supported in accessing good-quality online health information. Objective To specify the digital divide between skilled and less-skilled Web users, we assessed qualitative differences in technical skills, cognitive strategies, and attitudes toward online health information. Based on these findings, we identified educational and technological interventions to help Web users find and access good-quality online health information. Methods We asked 22 native German-speaking adults to search for health information online. The skilled cohort consisted of 10 participants who were younger than 30 years of age, had a higher level of education, and were more experienced using the Web than 12 participants in the less-skilled cohort, who were at least 50 years of age. We observed online health information searches to specify differences in technical skills and analyzed concurrent verbal protocols to identify health information seekers’ cognitive strategies and attitudes. Results Our main findings relate to (1) attitudes: health information seekers in both cohorts doubted the quality of information retrieved online; among poorly skilled seekers, this was mainly because they doubted their skills to navigate vast amounts of information; once a website was accessed, quality concerns disappeared in both cohorts, (2) technical skills: skilled Web users effectively filtered information according to search intentions and data sources; less-skilled users were easily distracted by unrelated information, and (3) cognitive strategies: skilled Web users searched to inform themselves; less-skilled users searched to confirm their health-related opinions such as “vaccinations are harmful. ” Independent of Web-use skills, most participants stopped a search once they had found the first piece of evidence satisfying search intentions, rather than according to quality criteria. Conclusions Findings related to Web-use skills differences suggest two classes of interventions to facilitate access to good-quality online health information. Challenges related to findings (1) and (2) should be remedied by improving people’s basic Web-use skills. In particular, Web users should be taught how to avoid information overload by generating specific search terms and to avoid low-quality information by requesting results from trusted websites only. Problems related to finding (3) may be remedied by visually labeling search engine results according to quality criteria.
Effects of hyperbaric factors on lidocaine-induced apoptosis in spinal neurons and the role of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in rats with diabetic neuropathic pain

The application of lidocaine can lead to nerve damage. Evidence suggests that patients with diabetic neuropathy are at a higher risk for neurotoxicity. In the present study, the successful induction of diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) in rats via a high-sugar, high-fat diet and intraperitoneal injection of 1% streptozotocin was verified and pronounced tactile allodynia was observed. It was found that intrathecal injections of hyperbaric lidocaine produced motor blocks of longer durations in the DNP model rats than in nondiabetic rats, or in DNP model rats injected with isobaric lidocaine. Histology of the lumbar 4–5 spinal cord revealed a significant difference in neuropathology between the DNP and nondiabetic rats. Moreover, edematous neurons and TUNEL-positive cells were observed in the hyperbaric lidocaine group. It was also found that the inhibition of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) played a neuroprotective role in response to hyperbaric lidocaine-induced apoptosis in DNP rats, which indicates that p38MAPK plays a key role in the regulation of hyperbaric lidocaine-induced apoptosis in DNP rats. These findings suggest that hyperbaric lidocaine can promote spinal cord neuronal apoptosis in rats with DNP. Furthermore, p38MAPK might play a key role in the regulation of hyperbaric lidocaine-induced apoptosis in rats with DNP.
Basal Cortisol Levels and Correlates of Hypoadrenalism in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Objective: To determine the frequency of occurrence of hypoadrenalism in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and document the clinical correlates of hypoadrenalism for this group of patients. Subjects and Methods: A descriptive study was carried out on 66 hospitalized HIV patients in a semi-urban setting of South Africa. Hypoadrenalism was diagnosed based on a basal cortisol level of less than 400 nmol/l with or without overt signs and symptoms. Clinical and biochemical parameters of hypoadrenalism were compared between subjects with suboptimal and normal cortisol levels. Statistical analysis included Student’s t test, χ2 and Pearson’s correlation coefficient tests. Results: The prevalence of hypoadrenalism was 27% with a high occurrence of contributory factors (cytomegalovirus infection in 100% and tuberculosis in 68.2% of the study subjects). Typical features of hypoadrenalism included: hyponatremia, 19.6%; hyperkalemia, 6.1%; mucosal hyperpigmentation, 12%, and loss of axillary hair, 15%. Comparison of clinical and biochemical parameters of hypoadrenalism did not show a correlation between CD4 count and cortisol levels (r = 0.1 and p = 0.3). Conclusion: The prevalence of hypoadrenalism in our patients with HIV infection was high and the clinical features were comparable in subjects with normal and subnormal cortisol levels.
The potential application of strategic released apigenin from polymeric carrier in pulmonary fibrosis

ABSTRACT Aim: The capability of reducing fibrotic and inflammatory responses in lung tissues represents a gold standard for evaluating the efficacy of therapeutic interventions for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A wide variety of therapeutic strategies have been employed in clinic to treat PF, but limited success has been obtained. Apigenin (4, 5, 7-trihydroxyflavone) is a member of flavonoid family that exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrosis effects. In this study, we explore the potential therapeutic effect of apigenin in lung fibrosis. Materials and Methods: Apigenin was employed to treat IPF in a bleomycin-induced PF rat model. Apigenin was loaded onto a biodegradable polymer carrier (nanoparticle, NP) to improve its bio-solubility and bio-availability. The properties (e.g. size, apigenin loading and release profile) of the apigenin loaded polymer carrier were well-characterized. In vitro study was performed to assess the impact of apigenin on pulmonary cell viability, growth, as well as inflammatory and pro-fibrosis responses in pulmonary cells. The impact of apigenin on the production of inflammatory cytokines (e.g. TGF-β, TNF-α) and pro-fibrosis factors in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and pulmonary cells from lung tissues was also investigated. Results: Our results showed, apigenin has anti-fibrosis effect by inhibition fibrosis related cytokines expression. And compared with apigenin in soluble form, the strategic release of apigenin is more effective in inhibiting pulmonary fibrosis and inflammation. Conclusion: Our finding suggested that apigenin loaded on polymeric carrier might be an effective treatment for pulmonary fibrosis patients.
The Prevalence of Multidrug Resistance Is Higher among Bovine than Human Salmonellaenterica Serotype Newport, Typhimurium, and 4,5,12:i:− Isolates in the United States but Differs by Serotype and Geographic Region

ABSTRACT Salmonella represents an important zoonotic pathogen worldwide, but the transmission dynamics between humans and animals as well as within animal populations are incompletely understood. We characterized Salmonella isolates from cattle and humans in two geographic regions of the United States, the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast, using three common subtyping methods (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis [PFGE], multilocus variable number of tandem repeat analysis [MLVA], and multilocus sequence typing [MLST]). In addition, we analyzed the distribution of antimicrobial resistance among human and cattle Salmonella isolates from the two study areas and characterized Salmonella persistence on individual dairy farms. For both Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serotypes Newport and Typhimurium, we found multidrug resistance to be significantly associated with bovine origin of isolates, with the odds of multidrug resistance for Newport isolates from cattle approximately 18 times higher than for Newport isolates from humans. Isolates from the Northwest were significantly more likely to be multidrug resistant than those from the Northeast, and susceptible and resistant isolates appeared to represent distinct Salmonella subtypes. We detected evidence for strain diversification during Salmonella persistence on farms, which included changes in antimicrobial resistance as well as genetic changes manifested in PFGE and MLVA pattern shifts. While discriminatory power was serotype dependent, the combination of PFGE data with either MLVA or resistance typing data consistently allowed for improved subtype discrimination. Our results are consistent with the idea that cattle are an important reservoir of multidrug-resistant Salmonella infections in humans. In addition, the study provides evidence for the value of including antimicrobial resistance data in epidemiological investigations and highlights the benefits and potential problems of combining subtyping methods.
Both expression of cytokines and posterior annulus fibrosus rupture are essential for pain behavior changes induced by degenerative intervertebral disc: An experimental study in rats

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between intervertebral disc degeneration and low back pain (LBP). Rat L4/5 disc degeneration model was established by annular puncture using a 0.4 mm needle anteriorly or posteriorly. In both anterior and posterior puncture models, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histological analyses revealed marked disc degeneration 2 weeks after puncture. Cytokine expression was up‐regulated in different level in nucleus pulposus (NP) from 3 days after puncture. Pain behavioral tests indicated that the anterior disc puncture did not induce pain behavior changes, whereas the posterior disc puncture resulted in mechanical allodynia from 1 day to 21 days after injury. Besides, cytokine expression was significantly increased in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) at 1 and 2 weeks after posterior puncture, but not after the anterior puncture. These findings indicate the NP of the degenerative disc expresses different levels of inflammatory cytokines, and posterior disc puncture produced mechanical allodynia. The expression phase of cytokines in the NP was accordance with mechanical hyperalgesia in the posterior disc puncture model. Both expression of cytokines and posterior annulus fibrosus (AF) rupture in degenerative intervertebral disc are essential for pain behavior changes. © 2013 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 32:262–272, 2014.
Physicians who use social media and other internet-based communication technologies

The demographic and practice-related characteristics of physicians who use social networking websites, portable devices to access the internet, email to communicate with patients, podcasts, widgets, RSS feeds, and blogging were investigated. Logistic regression was used to analyze a survey of US primary care physicians, pediatricians, obstetrician/gynecologists, and dermatologists (N=1750). Reported technology use during the last 6 months ranged from 80.6% using a portable device to access the internet to 12.9% writing a blog. The most consistent predictors of use were being male, being younger, and having teaching hospital privileges. Physician specialty, practice setting, years in practice, average number of patients treated per week, and number of physicians in practice were found to be inconsistently associated or unassociated with use of the technologies examined. Demographic characteristics, rather than practice-related characteristics, were more consistent predictors of physician use of seven internet-based communication technologies with varying levels of uptake.
Upper and lower body anaerobic performance of semi-elite Rugby League players.

AIM The aim of this study was to measure the upper and lower body anaerobic performance of semi-elite Rugby League (RL) players. METHODS Twenty-two semi-professional RL players and 24 physically active but untrained men completed two Wingate anaerobic tests (WAnT) on an electronic arm ergometer and a cycle ergometer separated by three days. Percent body fat was used determined from the sum of six skinfolds and upper and lower muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) was calculated from anthropometric data. RESULTS Upper and lower body absolute peak (P=0.035, P=0.002) and mean (P=0.005, P=0.031) power were higher in the RL group compared to the control group. Upper and lower body relative peak power was higher (P=0.022, P=0.047) in the control group compared to the RL group. Peak and mean power (relative and absolute) were higher (P≤0.05) in the lower body compared to the upper body. Peak and mean power relative to upper and lower muscle CSA was higher (P≤0.001) in the upper body compared to the lower body for both groups. CONCLUSION Semi-elite Rugby League players have well developed absolute anaerobic power, but relative to body weight upper and lower body anaerobic power is not well developed. The upper body is able to generate more power relative to body weight and muscle CSA compared to the lower body during the WAnT. Future studies should examine the upper body anaerobic performance of elite RL players and other sports that have similar upper body demands.
Studi empiris pengaruh kepuasan kerja, turnover intention, produktivitas, dan keunggulan bersaing

Penelitian ini difokuskan pada karyawan CV Duta Jepara, sebuah perusahaan mebel di Kabupaten Jepara, untuk menguji pengaruh kepuasan kerja dan turnover intention terhadap produktivitas serta keunggulan bersaing perusahaan. Penelitian ini mengolah data primer yang diperoleh menggunakan kuesioner yang dibagikan kepada 468 karyawan. Sampel penelitian dipilih menggunakan metode purposive sampling dengan pertimbangan karyawan dari departemen produksi yang sudah bekerja lebih dari dua tahun. Sampel yang dianalisis sebanyak 275 kuesioner. Alat analisis yang digunakan adalah Structural Equation Modeling. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kepuasan kerja berpengaruh terhadap turnover intention, produktivitas dan keunggulan bersaing. Turnover intention berpengaruh terhadap keunggulan bersaing, tetapi tidak berpengaruh terhadap produktivitas. Sedangkan produktivitas berpengaruh terhadap keunggulan bersaing.
Clinical Significance of the Genetic Landscape of Pancreatic Cancer and Implications for Identification of Potential Long-term Survivors

Purpose: Genetic alterations of KRAS, CDKN2A, TP53, and SMAD4 are the most frequent events in pancreatic cancer. We determined the extent to which these 4 alterations are coexistent in the same carcinoma, and their impact on patient outcome. Experimental Design: Pancreatic cancer patients who underwent an autopsy were studied (n = 79). Matched primary and metastasis tissues were evaluated for intragenic mutations in KRAS, CDKN2A, and TP53 and immunolabeled for CDKN2A, TP53, and SMAD4 protein products. The number of altered driver genes in each carcinoma was correlated to clinicopathologic features. Kaplan–Meier estimates were used to determine median disease free and overall survival, and a Cox proportional hazards model used to compare risk factors. Results: The number of genetically altered driver genes in a carcinoma was variable, with only 29 patients (37%) having an alteration in all 4 genes analyzed. The number of altered driver genes was significantly correlated with disease free survival (P = 0.008), overall survival (P = 0.041), and metastatic burden at autopsy (P = 0.002). On multivariate analysis, the number of driver gene alterations in a pancreatic carcinoma remained independently associated with overall survival (P = 0.046). Carcinomas with only 1 to 2 driver alterations were enriched for those patients with the longest survival (median 23 months, range 1 to 53). Conclusions: Determinations of the status of the 4 major driver genes in pancreatic cancer, and specifically the extent to which they are coexistent in an individual patients cancer, provides distinct information regarding disease progression and survival that is independent of clinical stage and treatment status. Clin Cancer Res; 18(22); 6339–47. ©2012 AACR.
Tourism Ethnocentrism and Its Effects on Tourist and Resident Behavior

People often demonstrate a home country bias toward their own nation over other nations. This bias is an important determinant of their behavior. Drawing on seminal research from marketing and psychology, the authors provide the first investigation of the tourism ethnocentrism (TE) phenomenon that captures tourists’ and residents’ motivation to support the domestic tourism economy. The research reported herein develops the parsimonious, reliable, and valid TE scale, and provides an empirical test thereof. The results show that TE is an important means to investigate both tourists’ and residents’ behavior. It drives tourists’ willingness to engage in and recommend domestic tourism, as well as residents’ support for domestic tourism development. The results further reveal that higher levels of tourists’ “perceived self-efficacy to contribute to the domestic economy” and lower levels of “perceived economy support of others” strengthen TE’s effect. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.
The Stockholm School in a New Age – Erik Lundberg and the Swedish Model

The Stockholm-school member Erik Lundberg is the economist who devoted most attention to the economic theory and policy of the Swedish postwar model. The established view is that Lundberg was a steadfast opponent of the so-called Rehn- Meidner model, an economic and wage policy program developed by two Swedish trade-union economists in the early postwar years. The model recommends fiscal policies in the medium term, extensive labor market programs and wage policies of solidarity to simultaneously obtain price stability, full employment, income equality and high growth. This article maintains that Lundberg shared many of the premises of the Rehn-Meidner model already at the beginning of his debate with Gosta Rehn in the early 1950s. Furthermore, in their debate, Lundberg approached Rehn’s policy program and underlying theory of the working of the Swedish economy. Despite his ideological qualms, Lundberg’s ambiguous attitude to the Rehn-Meidner model turned into a complete adoption of the model in the 1960s. By highlighting the innovative nature of the Rehn-Meidner theory, Lundberg also correctly downplayed the impact of the Stockholm School.
Ageing Modulates some Aspects of the Non‐Specific Immune Response of Murine Macrophages and Lymphocytes

The deterioration of the immune system with ageing, which leads to an increased morbidity and mortality from infections, appears to be related to decreases in specific lymphocyte functions. However, the alteration of non‐specific immunity is a more controversial subject. Our purpose was to investigate the age‐related changes of different functions of the non‐specific immune response in peritoneal macrophages (adherence to tissues, mobility directed to a chemical gradient from an infectious focus or chemotaxis, phagocytosis of foreign agents and destruction of these agents by superoxide anion production) and in lymphocytes (adherence and chemotaxis) from peritoneum, axillary lymph nodes, spleen and thymus. We used young (12 weeks), adult (22 weeks), mature (48 weeks) and old (72 weeks) female BALB/c mice. The adherence capacity of macrophages and lymphocytes was greater in adult and old mice than in young animals. The chemotaxis of macrophages showed higher values in cells from young mice than in those from adult mice, increasing again in macrophages from mature and old animals. A similar behaviour was shown by phagocytosis, which reached its highest values in old animals. Anion superoxide production increased with age and again the highest values were obtained in the oldest mice. Conversely, chemotaxis of lymphocytes was higher in the adult and mature animals than in the young and old animals. We conclude that, although there is a decrease in lymphocyte chemotaxis in old animals, the non‐specific immune response of macrophages instead of decreasing, may increase in aged mice with respect to the values seen in adult mice.
Cooperative Inhibitory Effects of Budesonide and Formoterol on Eosinophil Superoxide Production Stimulated by Bronchial Epithelial Cell Conditioned Medium

Background: Improved asthma control by combinations of inhaled glucocorticosteroids (GCs) and long-acting β2-agonists (LABAs) includes a reduced frequency and severity of exacerbations. In view of the association of exacerbations with increased airway inflammation, the question has arisen as to whether LABAs are able to complement the known anti-inflammatory activity of GCs. To address this, we studied the effects of a LABA, formoterol (FORM), and a GC, budesonide (BUD), alone and in combination, on bronchial epithelial cell-mediated eosinophil superoxide production in vitro.Methods: We employed 2 experimental approaches. First, superoxide production by human eosinophils incubated with conditioned medium (CM) from human bronchial epithelial cells cultured for 24 h with vehicle, BUD, FORM or BUD + FORM was measured (Epi/Eos assay). Second, eosinophils were stimulated with vehicle-CM to which the drugs were added (Eos assay). Superoxide production was determined as the superoxide dismutase-inhibitable reduction of ferricytochrome C. Results: CM increased eosinophil superoxide generation (p < 0.01) and epithelial-derived granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor was the mediator responsible. In both assays, FORM dose-dependently inhibited eosinophil superoxide similarly and in the same concentration range as BUD. The BUD + FORM combination was more effective than BUD alone, and it completely inhibited CM-induced superoxide production in the Epi/Eos assay, suggesting complementary effects of both drugs on bronchial epithelial cells and eosinophils. Conclusions: The cooperative, inhibitory effects of BUD and FORM on eosinophils and bronchial epithelial cells, in terms of their effects on eosinophil superoxide production, may represent a possible mechanism for the enhanced anti-inflammatory efficacy of BUD and FORM combination therapy of asthma.