Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computational fluid dynamic simulation to assess flow characteristics of an in vitro aneurysm model

Background Modifications of in vitro aneurysm modeling to study the effects of morphology on flow dynamics are time consuming, costly and analysis tends to be more qualitative than quantitative. This study develops a virtual two-dimensional flow model replicating an in vitro aneurysm model and analyzes how changes in morphology modify flow characteristics. Methods Using finite volume analysis, a two-dimensional saccular aneurysm model was created with a configuration matching a published, experimental, in vitro model. Qualitative comparisons were made determining whether a two-dimensional fluid dynamic model can replicate the results of an in vitro model. Quantitative changes in flow patterns, wall shear stress, dynamic pressure and maximum velocities were assessed by modifying the shape of the neck and proximal dome without modifying the overall size of the aneurysm. Results A two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic model reproducing the shape of a published aneurysm demonstrated excellent qualitative fidelity to an in vitro flow model. Additional information regarding dynamic pressure, shear stress and velocity along the aneurysm neck and within the aneurysm dome were determined. Although all dimensions were kept constant, slight modifications of the neck and proximal dome resulted in quantitative changes in studied parameters, such as wall shear stress and dynamic pressure. Conclusions Computer generated aneurysm flow models, when carefully developed, reproduce flow events within in vitro aneurysms providing objective data on biophysical parameters. Effective flow modeling of aneurysms depends on flow input, size of the parent vessel and aneurysm, and other factors. These data suggest that neck and proximal dome configuration, independent of size, are important characteristics of flow.
Physician intervention and patient risk perception among smokers with acute respiratory illness in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND Acute Respiratory Illness accounts for over 12 million visits to emergency departments in the United States each year. Between one-fourth and one-half of these patients are smokers. We examined the frequency of physician intervention for smoking cessation among acute respiratory illness patients in the emergency department, and examined the influence of physician intervention on patients' perceived risk from smoking and motivation to quit. METHODS This study was conducted in the emergency department of a large inner-city hospital. Adult smokers (n = 63) presenting with symptoms of acute respiratory illness were surveyed by exit interview while in the emergency department. The frequency and extent of physician interventions for smoking were examined using the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research guidelines as a model. We also assessed patients' perceptions of risk from smoking, the presence of other household smokers, and the patients' motivation to quit. RESULTS Emergency department physicians provided incomplete and inconsistent intervention for smoking. While most patients reported being asked if they smoked, only half of smokers were advised to quit. Only 9% were offered any assistance with quitting. Risk perception was generally low, however, the majority of smokers were willing to receive on-site smoking cessation counseling while in the emergency department. CONCLUSIONS The small sample size in this study requires that results be interpreted with caution. However, the findings of this study suggest that the emergency department setting may provide a unique "teachable moment" in which to initiate smoking cessation counseling for this high-risk population.
Assessment of Behavioral Risk for Coronary Disease by Voice Characteristics

&NA; Behavior characterization is increasingly used and studied in the pathogenesis and management of coronary disease. A specific behavior pattern called Type A has been found to be independently associated with fatal and nonfatal coronary disease. The assessment of Type A is made without quantitative guidelines based on verbal and nonverbal behaviors in a standardized interview. This study has attempted to make this classification solely on the basis of quantifiable verbal behaviors. Two naive persons were trained to code speech behaviors from tape recorded behavior pattern interviews on which Type A had previously been assessed. Intercoder and intracoder reliability was acceptable. Using regression analysis 87% of the interviews were classified in agreement with the previous, standard assessment. Volume of voice and speed of speech were found to make the greatest predictive contribution. Other verbal characteristics including plosiveness were also important. It is concluded that Type A can be validly and repeatably measured by verbal behaviors in the standardized interview.
Observations on bacteriophages of Clostridium botulinum type C isolates from different sources and the role of certain phages in toxigenicity

Twenty strains of Clostridium botulinum type C, including 12 isolates from avian sources with varying toxigenic properties, were examined by electron microscope for the presence of bacteriophages. All toxigenic strains were infected with one or two types of phages. Three types of phages designated large, small, and intermediate were observed. Most of the strains carried the large and small phage, with the large phage being present in much greater numbers. Since there is evidence that highly toxigenic strains of C. botulinum type C are responsible for large outbreaks of botulism in wild birds, the phenomenon of toxigenic variation among the type C strains was investigated. Experiments were carried out employing a broth medium on a phagefree nontoxigenic strain for elucidating the role of bacteriophages in toxigenicity. All phage suspensions contained large phages, with the exception of one that caused conversion. The exception was a preparation containing an intermediate type of phage. Phages from different strains produced cultures of varying toxigenic characteristics. By employing a tube-lytic test and an agar-overlay-phage assay technique, it was determined that whenever the phage-bacterium relationship resulted in an initial high degree of lysis, the potency of toxin in the culture was weak. It appeared that in highly toxigenic strains, the phage-bacterium relationship is characterized by a stable lysogenic type of association. It was also found that in a highly toxigenic converted culture the percentage of toxigenic cells was 100, whereas in hypotoxigenic culture the percentage was only 20.
Optimal dosing of omeprazole 40 mg daily: effects on gastric and esophageal pH and serum gastrin in healthy controls.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the best regimen of omeprazole 40 mg/day for suppressing gastric acid and distal esophageal acid exposure. In addition, the relationship between the level of serum gastrin and gastric pH and this therapy is still uncertain. METHODS Nineteen healthy male volunteers (mean age 25 yr) had a baseline fasting serum gastrin and 24-h ambulatory combined distal esophageal and gastric pH monitoring. Subjects underwent a 7-day course of each of three specific regimens of omeprazole 40 mg (20 mg b.i.d., 40 mg qAM, 40 mg qPM) with repeat pH and gastrin on day 6. Meals and activity patterns were constant for each subject during the test series. Medications were taken before meals. RESULTS All dosing regimens caused significant (p < 0.01) acid reduction compared with baseline in both the stomach and the distal esophagus. There was no significant difference in the amount of acid exposure (time pH < 4) among the three dosing regimens in the esophagus and between qAM and qAM dosing in the stomach. However, b.i. d. dosing gave better (p < 0.05) gastric acid suppression compared with single daily dosing in 15 of 19 subjects. When the baseline was compared with all regimens of omeprazole 40 mg, there was a significant difference with both the serum gastrin (p < 0.01) and the percentage time gastric pH was < 4 (p < 0.01). The correlation between change in serum gastrin and change in percentage time gastric pH was < 4 was poor (r = 0.26). CONCLUSIONS Divided dosing of omeprazole 20 mg b.i. d. provides superior gastric acid suppression to either once a day regimen of omeprazole 40 mg in most individuals. Serum gastrin levels do not correspond well to gastric pH, necessitating the use of gastric pH monitoring to accurately determine the response to gastric acid suppression.
Skin Resurfacing of Fine to Deep Rhytides Using a Char‐free Carbon Dioxide Laser in 47 Patients

background Recent advances in carbon dioxide (CO2) laser technology have resulted in the development of lasers that can precisely remove thin layers of skin with minimal thermal damage to the surrounding tissue. These lasers rely on rapid pulsing or scanning of the laser beam. The effects of these lasers are predictable and reproducible, making them ideal for skin resurfacing. Clinical results have been promising, however, to date, no published series exist. objective To evaluate the effectiveness and side effect profile of laser resurfacing utilizing a CO2 laser with a scanning device, and make recommendations for patient selection and treatment protocol. methods Patients with perioral, periorbital, and glabellar rhytides were treated with a CO2 laser with a scanning device. Utilizing chart review and photographic evaluation, patients treated between November 1994 and April 1995 were retrospectively evaluated for effectiveness of therapy, healing time, and complication rates. results A total of 47 patients were evaluated. Photographic evaluation or chart review revealed good to excellent cosmetic results in all anatomic areas studied. All patients experienced posttreatment erythema lasting 1–6 months. Other minor complications were limited to contact dermatitis to topical preparations, transient postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, and milia formation. One patient experienced a primary herpes simplex virus infection during reepithelialization and required intravenous therapy. Minor focal atrophy was seen in one patient. No hypertrophic scarring or permanent pigmentation changes were seen. conclusion A CO2 laser system with a scanning beam can effectively and safely improve or remove glabellar, perioral, and periorbital rhytides.
Demystifying the Chinese Economy

China's economic development has been miraculous since the transition from a planned economy to a market economy in 1979. This article provides answers to six related questions: Why was it possible for China to achieve such extraordinary performance during its transition? Why was China unable to attain similar success before its transition started? Why did most other transition economies fail to achieve a similar performance? What costs does China pay for its extraordinary success? Can China maintain dynamic growth in the coming decades? What should other developing countries do to achieve similar success?
Acute Stress Enhances while Chronic Stress Suppresses Cell-Mediated Immunityin Vivo:A Potential Role for Leukocyte Trafficking

Delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions are antigen-specific, cell-mediated immune responses which, depending on the antigen involved, mediate beneficial (resistance to viruses, bacteria, fungi, and certain tumors) or harmful (allergic dermatitis, autoimmunity) aspects of immune function. We have shown that acute stress administered immediately before antigenic challenge results in a significant enhancement of a skin DTH response in rats. A stress-induced trafficking or redeployment of leukocytes to the skin may be one of the factors mediating this immunoenhancement. Here we investigate the effects of varying the duration, intensity, and chronicity of stress on the DTH response and on changes in blood leukocyte distribution and glucocorticoid levels. Acute stress administered for 2 h prior to antigenic challenge, significantly enhanced the DTH response. Increasing the duration of stress from 2 h to 5 h produced the same magnitude enhancement in cutaneous DTH. Moreover, increasing the intensity of acute stress produced a significantly larger enhancement of the DTH response which was accompanied by increasing magnitudes of leukocyte redeployment. In contrast, chronic stress suppressed the DTH response when it was administered for 3 weeks before sensitization and either discontinued upon sensitization, or continued an additional week until challenge, or extended for one week after challenge. The stress-induced redeployment of peripheral blood lymphocytes was attenuated with increasing exposure to chronic stress and correlated with attenuated glucocorticoid responsivity. These results suggest that stress-induced alterations in lymphocyte redeployment may play an important role in mediating the bi-directional effects of acute versus chronic stress on cell-mediated immunity in vivo.
Stroke: coping strategies and depression among Chinese caregivers of survivors during hospitalisation.

UNLABELLED aims and objectives: The main aim of this study was to identify the coping strategies of stroke caregivers, to identify the factors associated with caregivers' depression and to identify predictors of caregivers' depression. BACKGROUND Stroke has a high incidence in China. Most stroke survivors are accompanied by family caregivers during hospitalisation. However, little is known about these informal caregivers' coping strategies to the consequences brought on by stroke and their depressive symptoms. METHOD A correlation and cross-sectional design was used and a purposive sample of 92 stroke survivors and their caregivers completed the questionnaires, which were used to describe the demographic of both the caregiver and stroke survivor, coping strategies (the Brief COPE Inventory) and depression of caregivers (the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale). Spearman's correlation and multiple stepwise regression analysis were used in data analyses. RESULTS Several coping strategies (planning, positive reframing, acceptance, active coping, use of instrumental support and humour) were most commonly used by stroke caregivers. The length of hospital stay, stroke survivor's cognitive status and functional status, family income and coping strategies such as (i) denial, (ii) self-blame, (iii) planning and (iv) religion had significant correlations with caregiver's depression. The best predictors of caregiver's depression were denial, planning and stroke survivor's functional status. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to our knowledge about the coping strategies and depression level of stroke caregivers on the Chinese mainland. The depression rate is very high during hospitalisation, although these caregivers often had positive coping responses to the stroke event. Many factors were associated with caregivers' depression. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Nurses should not only pay attention to stroke survivors but also to their caregivers. To help them adjust well from the stroke consequences and avoid depression, nurses should implement effective interventions.
Rotating hinged total knee replacement: use with caution.

BACKGROUND A rotating hinged total knee prosthesis may be utilized for the treatment of global instability or severe bone loss around the knee. Older generations of rotating hinged designs were associated with suboptimal outcomes. We evaluated the outcome of salvage knee reconstructions that had been performed with use of modern-generation modular segmental kinematic rotating hinged total knee prostheses. METHODS The cohort included forty-three patients (twenty-nine women and fourteen men) who underwent forty-four knee arthroplasties for the treatment of a non-neoplastic condition with use of a modern-generation kinematic rotating hinged prosthesis. Revision of a previous total knee arthroplasty in the presence of massive bone loss was the most common indication for surgery. Complete clinical and radiographic data were collected for all patients after a mean duration of follow-up of 4.2 years. RESULTS Reconstruction with a rotating hinged total knee prosthesis provided substantial improvement in function and reduction in pain. However, a relatively large number of complications and failures (including revision because of periprosthetic infection [three knees], aseptic loosening [four], and periprosthetic fracture [one]) were encountered, with a mean time to failure of 1.7 years. The rate of prosthetic survival was 79.6% at one year and 68.2% at five years with revision or reoperation as the end point. CONCLUSIONS The present study highlights the commonly held opinion that a modular kinematic rotating hinged total knee prosthesis has a role for salvage reconstruction of the knee. In light of the relatively high rate of complications, we believe that this salvage procedure should be reserved primarily for elderly and sedentary patients.
The Presocratic tradition from Parmenides to Democritus

Preface Note on the sources List of abbreviations 1. The eleatics 2. Ionians and eleatics: the rise and fall of monism 3. Empedocles 4. Anaxagoras 5. Archelaus 6. Philosophy in the second half of the fifth century Bibliography Indexes.
An Experimental Lumbar Intertransverse Process Spinal Fusion Model: Radiographic, Histologic, and Biomechanical Healing Characteristics

Objective. The purpose of this investigation was to develop, characterize, and validate an animal model for lumbar intertransverse process fusion. Study Design. This study used a rabbit model to characterize the radiographic, histologic, and biomechanical properties of the intertransverse process spinal fusion healing process. Methods. Sixty adult New Zealand white rabbits underwent bilateral posterolateral spinal fusion at L5-L6 using autogenous iliac bone graft. Four of the rabbits were used as negative controls: two received bone graft without decortication of the transverse process, and two underwent decortication without bone grafting. Rabbits were killed at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 10 weeks and the spinal fusions were analyzed by radiography, manual palpation, and uniaxial tensile mechanical testing or light microscopy. Results. Overall the nonunion rate was 33% in animals 4 or more weeks from surgery. Biomechanical strength and stiffness of the fusions became statistically different from the adjacent unfused control levels after the third week (P < 0.05). Tensile strength of the nonunions (1.4 times unfused control levels) was statistically less (P < 0.05) than that of the solidly fused levels (1.8 times unfused controls) in weeks 4, 5, 6, and 10. Fusion was not achieved in any of the control animals with omission of decortication or bone grafting. Light microscopic analysis showed three distinct and reproducible phases of spinal fusion healing. Conclusions. This animal model overcomes the limitations of previous models by more closely replicating the human procedure in surgical technique, graft healing environment, and outcome (i.e., a nonunion rate similar to that seen in humans). This model provides an opportunity to explore questions relevant to the biology of intertransverse process fusion and to investigate the coupling of the membranous and endochondral mechanisms of bone formation during spinal fusion.
Comparative study of propofol and midazolam effects on somatosensory evoked potentials during surgical treatment of scoliosis.

OBJECTIVE Studies of the effects on lower-limb cortical somatosensory evoked potentials (CSEP) during total intravenous anesthesia are sparse for propofol and are lacking for midazolam. This study was designed to compare the effects of propofol and midazolam on CSEP under total intravenous anesthesia during intraoperative monitoring for surgical treatment of scoliosis. METHODS CSEPs were recorded in two groups of 15 patients during posterior instrumentation for treatment of idiopathic scoliosis. The anesthesia used the combination of atracurium, alfentanil, and an hypnotic agent (propofol for Group I or midazolam for Group II). The main characteristics of the CSEPs (P40 latency and N34-P40 and P40-N50 amplitudes) were recorded using ankle posterior tibial nerve stimulation. The CSEPs were recorded before induction, 10, 70, 100, 130, and 160 minutes after induction, and before the wake-up test. The statistical analysis involved analysis of variance for repeated measures. Both groups were homogeneous before induction. RESULTS Neither CSEP deterioration during risk-associated surgical procedures nor postoperative clinical abnormalities were observed. Both propofol and midazolam induced increases in P40 latencies, with the increases being greater and more regular for the propofol-treated group. The amplitude values changed with time for both groups, decreasing mainly after induction; in the midazolam-treated group, the amplitudes were smaller but more stable. Propofol modified the morphological characteristics of the response by decreasing the late P60 component amplitude; the W-shaped CSEP morphological pattern was maintained with midazolam. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates the appropriate use of either propofol or midazolam in scoliosis monitoring. Preoperative small-amplitude CSEPs might favor the use of propofol anesthesia.
Studies on the Antibacterial Activity of Ceftiofur Sodium in Vitro and Birds

This study was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial activity of ceftiofur sodium as anti-infective chemotherapeutic agent belonged to the third generation of cephalosporins against different bacterial pathogens in vitro and birds. The obtained results showed that it was more effective and superior in its action than that the other compared antibacterial agents. The disc diffusion test revealed that most P. multocida isolates were highly sensitive to ceftiofur sodium with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging between 0.625 - 2.5 μg/ml and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBCs) equal or two folds of the MICs.
High prevalence of physical inactivity among patients from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study

ABSTRACT Physical activity (PA) can improve cardiorespiratory status, strength, body composition and quality of life for patients infected with HIV. Evidence from HIV-uninfected populations also shows that PA is associated with a lower risk of mortality, primarily death due to cardiovascular causes. There is, however, a lack of data on how physically active HIV-infected patients are. In this study, we assessed levels of self-reported PA over time in patients enrolled in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study, a large multicentre prospective observational cohort study. We included a total of 10,540 patients who completed at least one report of PA between December 2009 and November 2014 during routine clinical follow-up (scheduled every 6 months). In the first year after December 2009 there was a higher rate of non-response so these data are of a lesser reliability. Over the next four years, the percentage of patients reporting no free-time PA at all declined from 49% to 44%. In contrast, in two “Sport Switzerland” surveys of the general population in 2008 and 2014, the percentage of individuals reporting no sports activities at all was considerably lower and relatively stable over time (27% in 2008; 26% in 2014). In our analysis, the percentage of patients reporting sedentary activity at work increased from 23% to 26% over the four years. Subgroup findings suggest differences between women and men and between patients classified by their age, stage of infection and CD4 cell count. Integrating PA counselling into the routine care of HIV-infected patients and promoting PA among this population has the potential to improve the general state of health and quality of life for HIV-infected patients and reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.