Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES): Validation of the Short Form in an Elderly French Population

RÉSUMÉ L’objectif de notre étude était de valider en langue française l’échelle des expériences de spiritualité quotidienne (EESQ) auprès d’une population âgée française. Deux études ont été menées afin d’examiner les propriétés psychométriques de l’EESQ. Les résultats de l’analyse factorielle (Etude 1–2) et de l’analyse factorielle confirmatoire (Etude 2) ont mis en évidence l’unidimensionnalité de l’échelle. La fidélité interne (Etude 1–2) ainsi que la fidélité temporelle (Etude 2) sont satisfaisantes. Comme prévu, des scores élevés ont été mis en corrélation avec la satisfaction de vie et l’évaluation de sa santé. En revanche, aucune corrélation n’a été mise en évidence avec la dépression. Cette étude préliminaire met en évidence les bonnes propriétés psychométriques de l’EESQ et semble être un bon outil d’investigation pour tous les chercheurs et professionnels intéressés par le maintien et la promotion du bien-être et de la spiritualité chez les âgés. ABSTRACT The study’s purpose was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the short form of the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES) in an elderly French population. Two studies were conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the DSES. Results of factor analysis (studies 1-2) and confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2) indicated that the DSES can be conceptualized on a single general factor. The reliability of the DSES appeared to be satisfactory with good internal consistency (studies 1-2) and good temporal stability (Study 2). As expected, higher scores were correlated with good life satisfaction and good self-evaluation of health, but no correlation was found with depression. Study results provided preliminary evidence of the psychometric properties of the French translation of the DSES short version. This short version indicates the potential benefit of encouraging the spiritual aspects of life and could be used in a variety of health-related research.
Arginine‐Supplemented Diets Improve Survival in Gut‐Derived Sepsis and Peritonitis by Modulating Bacterial Clearance The Role of Nitric Oxide

ObjectiveThe effect of arginine on survival rates and host defense mechanisms was studied using two clinically relevant models of infection that included transfusion-induced immunosuppression. Summary Background DataDietary arginine will improve resistance to infection but its role in transfusion-induced immunosuppression and bacterial transiocation (gut-derived sepsis) has not been defined. MethodsBalb/c mice were fed for 10 days with either a defined AIN-76A diet, an AIN-76A diet supplemented with 2% arginine, an AIN-76A diet supplemented with 4% glycine, or standard laboratory chow. In most experiments, the mice were then transfused with allogeneic blood and allowed to feed for an additional 5 days before undergoing either cecal Hgation and puncture (CLP) or gavage with 1010 Escherichia coli and a 20% burn injury. Additional animals fed with the arginine supplemented diet were treated with the nitric oxide inhibitor Nw-Nitro-L-arginine (NNA) before gavage and burn. The effect of these diets and NNA on the degree of translocation of 14C-radiolabeled E. coli from the intestine and the ability of the host to kill translocated organisms was also investigated. Mice were fed and received transfusion, gavage, and burn as above. Mesenteric, lymph nodes (MLN), liver and spleen were harvested 4 hours postburn. ResultsSurvival after CLP was 56% in the arginine-supplemented group versus 28% in the AIN-76A group and 20% in the chow group (p < 0.02). After gavage and burn, survival was 100% in the arginine-supplemented group versus 50% in both the glycine-supplemented and chow groups and 35% in the AIN-76A group (p < 0.01). In animals receiving the arginine-supplemented diet, treatment with NNA decreased survival from 95% to 30.5% (p < 0.0001). Greater translocation, as measured by radionuclide counts, was observed to the MLN of the AIN-76A group. However, there was no difference in translocation to the liver and spleen related to dietary group. Quantitative colony counts and the calculated percentage of remaining viable bacteria showed that the ability to kill translocated organisms was significantly enhanced in animals receiving arginine. Treatment with NNA reversed the beneficial effects of arginine on immune defense. ConclusionsThe benefit of arginine appears to be mediated by improved bactericidal mechanisms via the arginine-nitric oxide pathway.
[Outcome of patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome undergoing early or delayed intervention].

OBJECTIVE To compare the effect and safety of early intervention and delayed intervention in patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome. METHODS In this multicenter randomized trial, patients diagnosed as non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome were randomly assigned to undergo early intervention (coronary angiography ≤ 24 hours after randomization, n = 446) or delayed intervention (coronary angiography ≥ 36 hours after randomization, n = 369). The primary outcome was a composite of death, myocardial infarction or stroke at 180 days. The secondary outcome was death, myocardial infarction, refractory ischemia, stroke or revascularization at 180 days. RESULTS Baseline clinical characteristics were comparable between the two groups. Incidence of both primary (9.0% vs. 14.6%, P = 0.01) and secondary which was a composite of death, myocardial infarction or refractory ischemia (14.6% vs. 22.0% P = 0.01) endpoints were significantly lower in early intervention group than in delayed intervention group. Incidence of myocardial infarction was significantly lower in early intervention group than in delayed intervention group (5.2% vs. 10.8%, P = 0.00). Another secondary outcome which was a composite of death, myocardial infarction, refractory ischemia, stroke or revascularization was similar between the two groups (26.7% vs. 30.4%, P = 0.25). CONCLUSION Compared to delayed intervention group, early intervention reduced incidence of myocardial infarction but did not affect the incidence of death, stroke or refractory ischemia in patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome.
Restricted Intervals in Preference Dynamics: Theory and Application in an Agent-Based System

Agent-based models have long been used to generate states of variables at individual and aggregate levels. More recently, robotic and computer agents are being given forms in which internal dispositions such as cognitive reasoning, emotions, and preferences are represented. We note limitations in most common representations of preferences in these applications and propose conditions for dynamic forms of the variable. A consequence of the dynamics we propose is that preferences exhibit continuous variation in restricted intervals while maintaining characteristic differences between entities and over time. After giving a form to preferences in a situated application to a consumption system, analytical and computational methods are used to establish that dynamics in the system have properties we describe. We then derive dependencies of the restricted intervals in which preferences typically vary. Estimation of these intervals is exemplified in data on the U.S. economy. The system is then embodied in a network form in which cycle and randomness from environments and their interactions are represented. A demonstration of stochastic resonance in the networked system supports the imputed dynamics. The network model is also used to indicate network dependencies of the bounds of the interval in which preferences vary. Finally, the relevance of the dynamics that are proposed in preferences to other internal dispositions that include emotion in agent-based models is discussed.
Growth Factors, Signal Transduction Pathways, and Tumor Suppressor Genes in Esophageal Cancer

Maryam Zare1,2, Mehdi Moghanibashi1,3 and Ferdous Rastgar Jazii1,4 1Department of Biochemistry, National Institute of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, 2Department of Biology, Payam-Noor University, Tehran, 3Islamic Azad University, Kazerun Branch, School of Medicine, Kazerun, Shiraz, 4Department of Molecular Structure and Function, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children (Sickkids), Toronto, ON, 1,2,3Iran 4Canada
Technology, job satisfaction, and retention: rural mental health practitioners.

CONTEXT Job satisfaction as it relates to retention of mental health professionals is a major problem in rural areas. Several authors have suggested that technology can positively influence job satisfaction and thus improve retention. OBJECTIVES This study examined technology use and technology expertise in relationship to job satisfaction. It is based on a theoretical framework that asserts as technology use increases, communication among providers and access to educational and consultative resources increase as well, resulting in a boost in professional support and a reduction in isolation. METHODS Surveys were sent to 320 providers in rural southeast Ohio; 163 returned usable surveys. FINDINGS There was a statistically significant relationship between the combination of technology use and expertise and job satisfaction. Use alone, however, was not significant. Despite the fact that over 90% of respondents had access to both a computer and the Internet, just 45% used technology to communicate with peers and nearly 96% indicated that they never or rarely used the Internet for educational programs. CONCLUSIONS The results challenge the assertion that technology plays a major role in job satisfaction and rural retention since access and perceived expertise did not guarantee technology usage. Decisions to stay or leave a rural practice involve a complex array of factors. Technology, with its ability to link providers to resources outside the geographic bounds of an individual's practice, may play a role, but since its adoption can be costly in both time and money, future studies need to determine its place in the retention model.
Immature performance linked with exaggeration of a sexually selected trait in an armed beetle

Exaggerated traits can be costly and are often trade‐off against other characters, such as life‐history traits. Thus, the evolution of an exaggerated trait is predicted to affect male life‐history strategies. However, there has been very little experimental evidence of the impact of the evolution of sexually selected traits on life‐history traits. This study investigated whether increased investment in exaggerated traits can generate evolutionary changes in the life‐history strategy for armed males. Male flour beetles, Gnatocerus cornutus, have enlarged mandibles that are used in male–male competition, but females lack this character exaggeration completely. We subjected these weapons to 11 generations of bidirectional selection and found a correlated response in pupal survival but not in larval survival or adult longevity in the male. That is, selecting for male mandibles negatively impacted survival during the production of mandibles. There is no correlated response in the life‐history traits of the female.
Behaviour of pigs exposed to mixtures of gases and the time required to stun and kill them: welfare implications

Pigs were exposed individually to either 90 per cent argon in air (anoxia), a mixture of 30 per cent carbon dioxide and 60 per cent argon in air (hypercapnic anoxia) or 80 to 90 per cent carbon dioxide in air (hypercapnic hypoxia) and the times to loss of posture, the onset and duration of convulsions, vocalisation and cessation of gagging (respiratory arrest) were determined. The duration of convulsions and the time to onset of respiratory arrest were longer when the pigs were exposed to argon than when they were exposed to the mixture of carbon dioxide and argon or to the high concentration of carbon dioxide in air. A second experiment was carried out under commercial conditions to determine the duration of unconsciousness and insensibility based on the response to a nose prick, and the incidence of death induced by exposing pigs to either 90 per cent argon in air or a mixture of 30 per cent carbon dioxide and 60 per cent argon in air for different periods. The results showed that when pigs were exposed for three minutes to either argon or the mixture of carbon dioxide and argon they should be bled within 25 seconds from the end of exposure to the gas to prevent them regaining consciousness during bleeding. When the pigs were exposed to either argon or the mixture of carbon dioxide and argon for five minutes and bleeding out began within 45 seconds they did not regain consciousness or suffer convulsions while being bled. The majority of the pigs died when they were exposed to argon for seven minutes, and all of them died when they were exposed to the mixture of carbon dioxide and argon for seven minutes.
Assessment of the FDA Backgrounder on Platinum in Silicone Breast Implants: Implications for Public Health Policy

A recent report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviewed the literature on the subject of platinum in silicone gel–filled breast implants. In this study the author evaluates the FDA report for scientific accuracy and impartiality, and provides relevant discussions on financial conflicts of interest, an Institute of Medicine report, and public health policy. The study suggests that the FDA used discredited scientific practices in compiling its report. Reports by regulatory agencies should be scientifically accurate, with no partiality to industry. The current policy of one-way information flow from the FDA directly to those being informed needs to be revised. Greater importance should be placed on studies in which authors have no financial conflicts of interest.
Antigenic Evolution of Vaccine-Derived Polioviruses: Changes in Individual Epitopes and Relative Stability of the Overall Immunological Properties

ABSTRACT The Sabin oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) readily undergoes changes in antigenic sites upon replication in humans. Here, a set of antigenically altered descendants of the three OPV serotypes (76 isolates) was characterized to determine the driving forces behind these changes and their biological implications. The amino acid residues of OPV derivatives that lie within or close to the known antigenic sites exhibited a marked tendency to be replaced by residues characteristic of homotypic wild polioviruses, and these changes may occur very early in OPV evolution. The specific amino acid alterations nicely correlated with serotype-specific changes in the reactivity of certain individual antigenic sites, as revealed by the recently devised monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In comparison to the original vaccine, small changes, if any, in the neutralizing capacity of human or rabbit sera were observed in highly diverged vaccine polioviruses of three serotypes, in spite of strong alterations of certain epitopes. We propose that the common antigenic alterations in evolving OPV strains largely reflect attempts to eliminate fitness-decreasing mutations acquired either during the original selection of the vaccine or already present in the parental strains. Variability of individual epitopes does not appear to be primarily caused by, or lead to, a significant immune evasion, enhancing only slightly, if at all, the capacity of OPV derivatives to overcome immunity in human populations. This study reveals some important patterns of poliovirus evolution and has obvious implications for the rational design of live viral vaccines.
Development of colon cancer after liver transplantation for primary sclerosing cholangitis associated with ulcerative colitis

Between February 26, 1981, and July 30, 1987, 36 patients underwent orthotopic liver transplantation for primary sclerosing cholangitis associated with ulcerative colitis. Three of the 36 recipients died within 3 mo because of graft nonfunction or surgical complications. The other 33 (92%) lived for at least 1 yr. Two of the 33 died after 12 and 14 mo, respectively, of recurrent cholangiocarcinoma that was not diagnosed before transplantation. Four other patients died of recurrent liver failure (three cases) or immunoblastic sarcoma (one case) after 14, 21, 36 and 44 mo. Twenty‐seven (75%) of the patients are still alive 23 to 81 mo after transplantation. Two patients have been diagnosed as having colorectal cancer 11 and 21 mo respectively, after transplantation, for an overall incidence of 5.6% (2 of 36) and a corrected incidence of 6.5% (2 of 31) if the three early deaths and two later deaths caused by cholangiocarcinomas are excluded. It is not known whether colorectal malignancies were present but undetected at the time of transplantation or whether they developed afterward. It is clear that patients who undergo liver transplantation for primary sclerosing cholangitis associated with ulcerative colitis should have careful follow‐up of the colon, including colonoscopy and multiple biopsies of the colorectal mucosa. Whether proctocolectomy should be considered prophylactically after liver transplantation is an unresolved issue. (HEPATOLOGY 1990;11:477–480.)
Lag consensus of second-order leader-following multiagent systems with communication delays

Addressed in this paper is the leader-following lag consensus of multiagent systems. By leader-following lag consensus, we mean that the followers achieve the state consensus with a lagged state of the leader. By means of Lyapunov-Krasovskii method, a sufficient condition is established which guarantees the required lag consensus. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the proposed theoretical results.
Correction of Aberrant Pre-mRNA Splicing by Antisense Oligonucleotides in β-Thalassemia Egyptian Patients With IVSI-110 Mutation

The splicing mutation in intron 1 of β-globin gene (IVS1-110) is the most common mutation in Egyptian thalassemics that causes aberrant splicing of pre-mRNA and deficient β-globin chain synthesis. Antisense oligonucleotides (ASONs) are compounds that redirect pre-mRNA splicing and modify gene expression. Our aim was ex vivo correction of the aberrant splicing of β-globin110 pre-mRNA by ASON against the 3′ aberrant splice site. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 10 thalassemic patients with IVS1-110 mutation were duplicated and 1 was treated with 20 μmoL/mL morpholino ASON targeted against the 3′ aberrant splice site. The level of total hemoglobin (Hb), fetal Hb, and mRNA were estimated in the duplicate samples. Five cases (50%) showed correction with ASON treatment, of which 2 cases showed the appearance of corrected mRNA band with absence of the aberrant band and 3 cases showed an increased ratio of the corrected to the aberrant mRNA band from 2:1 to 3:1, and 4:1. The total Hb showed significant increase in the 5 corrected cases. In conclusion, ASON can restore correct splicing of β-globin pre-mRNA leading to correct gene product in cultured erythropoietic cells. These results suggest the applicability of ASON for the treatment of thalassemia.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Is a Determinant of Responsiveness to B Cell Antigen Receptor-Mediated Epstein-Barr Virus Activation1

B cell Ag receptor (BCR) cross-linking with anti-Ig Abs efficiently induces activation of latently infected EBV in some B cell lines, but not in others. The present study was aimed at defining the molecular mechanisms that determine the response to BCR-mediated EBV activation. Comparison of Burkitt’s lymphoma-derived Akata, Mutu-I, and Daudi cells, which are representative responders and nonresponders to BCR-mediated EBV activation, respectively, indicated that three signaling pathways, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), were activated in anti-Ig-treated Akata and Mutu-I cells. However, in anti-Ig-treated Daudi cells PI3K was not activated, ERK was faintly activated, and p38 MAPK was constitutively phosphorylated irrespective of anti-Ig treatment. Restoration of PI3K activity with insulin-like growth factor 1 restored ERK and p38 MAPK pathways, and was accompanied by EBV activation in anti-Ig-treated Daudi cells. In contrast, a specific inhibitor for PI3K, wortmannin, inhibited EBV activation by anti-Ig Abs in Akata and Mutu-I cells. Transfection assays in EBV-negative Daudi cells revealed that PI3K activated a promoter for BZLF1, which is a switch of EBV activation from a latent infection, in the absence of other EBV products suggesting that the BZLF promoter was a target of BCR signaling, and that PI3K was important for BCR-mediated BZLF1 activation. These results indicate that the absence of PI3K impedes the progression of signals through the BCR and becomes a determinant of unresponsiveness to BCR-mediated EBV activation.
Darbepoetin alfa administered once monthly maintains haemoglobin levels in stable dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Darbepoetin alfa, a glycoprotein that stimulates erythropoiesis by the same mechanism as endogenous erythropoietin, has a 3-fold longer terminal half-life than recombinant human erythropoietin, allowing for an extended dosing interval. Darbepoetin alfa is currently recommended for once-weekly and once every 2 weeks administration in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). The objective of this study was to explore once-monthly administration in this patient population. METHODS Clinically stable dialysis patients (mean haemoglobin concentration, 10.0-13.0 g/dl) receiving stable darbepoetin alfa therapy administered once every 2 weeks in a long-term treatment study were converted to darbepoetin alfa once every 3 weeks for 20 weeks and then, if haemoglobin concentrations were successfully maintained between 10.0 and 13.0 g/dl, were converted to darbepoetin alfa once every 4 weeks for 20 weeks. The darbepoetin alfa dose was titrated to maintain haemoglobin within a target range (-1.0 to +1.5 g/dl of baseline haemoglobin, and between 10.0 and 13.0 g/dl). Success with the extended dosing interval was defined as maintenance of mean haemoglobin >/=10.0 g/dl during a 4-week evaluation at the end of the dosing period. RESULTS Of the 54 patients who entered the study, 38 patients were converted to darbepoetin alfa administered once every 4 weeks. Of these, 36 patients were considered evaluable and 30 (83%) of those evaluable patients successfully maintained the target haemoglobin. For successful patients the mean (SD) haemoglobin during evaluation was 11.16 (0.60) g/dl, and the mean change in haemoglobin from baseline to evaluation was -0.26 g/dl (95% CI: -0.51, -0.01). The median change from baseline in average weekly darbepoetin alfa dose was 1.61 microg (95% CI: 0.00, 4.75). Adverse events were consistent with those expected for this patient population. CONCLUSIONS Darbepoetin alfa, administered once monthly, maintained haemoglobin effectively and safely in most dialysis patients stabilized previously on once every 2 weeks dosing. Once-monthly dosing may optimize anaemia management for patients with CRF and for health care providers.