Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hepatitis B Virus Prevalence and Vaccine Response in HIV-infected Children and Adolescents on Combination Antiretroviral Therapy in Kigali, Rwanda

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in a cohort of HIV-infected Rwandan children and adolescents on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), and the success rate of HBV vaccination in those children found to be HBV negative. Methods: HIV-infected children and adolescents (age 8–17 years) receiving cART with CD4 T-cells count ≥200 cells/mm3 and/or ≥15% and without prior HBV vaccination (by history, vaccination cards and clinic records) underwent serologic testing for past (negative HBV surface antigen [HBsAg] with positive antibody to HBV core antigen [cAb] and to HBsAg [anti-HBs]) or active HBV infection (positive HBsAg). Children with any positive HBV serologic tests were excluded from further vaccination; all others completed 3 HBV immunizations with 10 µg of ENGERIX-B. Anti-HBs titer was measured 4–6 weeks after the last immunization. Results: Of 88 children, 6 (7%) children had active HBV infection and 8 (9%) had past HBV infection. The median (interquartile range) age, CD4 T-cell count and cART duration were 12.3 (10.1–13.9) years, 626 (503 to 942) cells/mm3 and 1.9 (1.5–2.7) years, respectively. Seventeen children had detectable plasma HIV-1 RNA. Seventy-3 children completed 3 immunizations with median (interquartile range) postimmunization anti-HBs concentration of 151 mIU/mL (1.03–650). Overall, 52 children (71%, 95% confidence interval: 61–82) developed a protective anti-HBs response. HIV-1 RNA and CD4 T-cell count were independent predictors of a protective anti-HBs response. Protective anti-HBs response was achieved in 82% of children with undetectable HIV-1 RNA and 77% with CD4 T cells ≥350/mm3. Conclusions: The substantial HBV prevalence in this cohort suggests that HIV-infected Rwandan children should be screened for HBV before cART initiation. HIV viral suppression and CD4 T cells ≥350/mm3 favored the likelihood of a protective response after HBV vaccination.Key Words: Hepatitis B, HIV-infected children and adolescents, Rwanda.
Domestic Violence Against 116 Turkish Housewives: A Field Study

ABSTRACT In order to clarify the factors associated with domestic violence against married women and to learn the attitude of women toward violence and toward the inquiry of health personnel about domestic violence, a cross-sectional survey was conducted on 116 married Turkish women. The prevalence of domestic physical violence was found to be 41.4%, emotional violence 25.9%, sexual violence 8.6%, and controlling behavior 77.6%. Physical violence experienced at any time in their life was 50.9%. Rate of physical violence was found related with lower formal education of both women and husbands and their place of birth. The opinion of “husbands must not beat their wives” was more common among women with formal education. Eighty-two percent of women indicated that they would be willing to answer questions regarding domestic violence by health personnel. In conclusion, cultural background and formal education of either woman or man influence the likelihood of imposing or tolerating violent behavior at home. Inquiry about violence may be a routine in women's health care practice, and it is welcome by most women.
Ethnic comparisons of the cross‐sectional relationships between measures of body size with diabetes and hypertension

Recent estimates indicate that two billion people are overweight or obese and hence are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and its comorbidities. However, this may be an underestimate of the true extent of the problem, as the current method used to define overweight may lack sensitivity, particularly in some ethnic groups where there may be an underestimate of risk. Measures of central obesity may be more strongly associated with cardiovascular risk, but there has been no systematic attempt to compare the strength and nature of the associations between different measures of overweight with cardiovascular risk across ethnic groups. Data from the Obesity in Asia Collaboration, comprising 21 cross‐sectional studies in the Asia‐Pacific region with information on more than 263 000 individuals, indicate that measures of central obesity, in particular, waist circumference (WC), are better discriminators of prevalent diabetes and hypertension in Asians and Caucasians, and are more strongly associated with prevalent diabetes (but not hypertension), compared with body mass index (BMI).
Contribution of Convexal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage to Disease Progression in Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Background and Purpose— Cerebral amyloid angiopathy–related cortical superficial siderosis (cSS) seems to indicate an increased risk of subsequent intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). We wanted to identify the mechanisms and sequence of hemorrhagic events which are responsible for this association. Methods— During a 9-year-period, we identified patients with spontaneous convexal subarachnoid hemorrhage (cSAH) and performed a careful longitudinal analysis of clinical and neuroimaging data. A close imaging–histopathologic correlation was performed in one patient. Results— Of 38 cSAH patients (mean age, 77±11 years), 29 (76%) had imaging features of cerebral amyloid angiopathy on baseline magnetic resonance imaging. Twenty-six (68%) had cSS. Sixteen subjects underwent postcontrast magnetic resonance imaging. Extravasation of gadolinium at the site of the acute cSAH was seen on all postcontrast scans. After a mean of 24±22 (range 1–78) months of follow-up, 15 (39%) had experienced recurrent cSAHs and 14 (37%) had suffered lobar ICHs. Of 22 new ICHs, 17 occurred at sites of previous cSAHs or cSS. Repeated neuroimaging showed expansion of cSAH into the brain parenchyma and evolution of a lobar ICH in 4 patients. Propagation of cSS was observed in 21 (55%) patients, with 14 of those having experienced recurrent cSAHs. In the autopsy case, leakage of meningeal vessels affected by cerebral amyloid angiopathy was noted. Conclusions— In cerebral amyloid angiopathy, leakage of meningeal vessels seems to be a major cause for recurrent intrasulcal bleedings, which lead to the propagation of cSS and indicate sites with increased vulnerability for future ICH. Intracerebral bleedings may also develop directly from or in extension of a cSAH.
Measurement of Postural Change in Trunk Movements Using Three Sensor Modules

This paper introduces a method of using 3-D accelerometers, gyroscopes, and an autoreset algorithm for tracking the trunk movements and estimating the regional trunk postural changes in the sagittal and coronal planes. Three sensor modules of the newly designed sensing system were attached onto the back of the skin surface at the levels of T1/T2, T12, and S1. The angular measurements from the sensor modules were used to estimate the spinal curvature changes of nine healthy subjects during their trunk movements. The measurements of the sensing system were found to be highly correlated with that of a Vicon motion analysis system. The correlation coefficients were found to be greater than 0.994 for dynamic tilting measurements and greater than 0.776 for trunk postural measurements; and the RMS differences were less than 1.5deg for dynamic calibration and less than or equal to 4.5deg for the estimation of trunk postural changes. This method could be considered as a useful way of quantifying the trunk postural information. With further developments in data logging and feedback mechanism, it can become a portable posture tracking and monitoring system for training those with postural deviations even during their normal daily activities.
Rufibacter quisquiliarum sp. nov., a new member of the phylum Bacteroidetes isolated from a bioreactor treating landfill leachate.

A novel bacterium, CAI-18bT, was isolated from a bioreactor that treated landfill leachate using an oligotrophic growth medium. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain CAI-18bT is a member of the genus Rufibacter, showing 97.1 % pairwise similarity to Rufibacter roseus H359T, 96.4 % to Rufibacter tibetensis 1351T, 96.4 % to Rufibacter glacialis MDT1-10-3T and 96.0 % to Rufibacter immobilis MCC P1T. Strain CAI-18bT was rod-shaped, motile, oxidase- and catalase-positive. The predominant fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 (24.1 %) and iso-C17 : 1 I (22.3 %), the major respiratory quinone was MK-7, and the predominant polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and an unknown aminophospholipid. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain CAI-18bT was 50.7 mol%. The novel bacterium can be distinguished from related type strains based on its ability to assimilate N-acetylglucosamine and gentiobiose. On the basis of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular data, strain CAI-18bT represents a novel species of the genus Rufibacter, for which the name Rufibacter quisquiliarum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CAI-18bT (=DSM 29854T=NCAIM B.02614T).
Attitudes of clinician educators towards interprofessional education and collaboration: Insights from two interprofessional scales

ABSTRACT The increasing complexity of healthcare needs underlines the growing importance of interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) in enhancing quality of patient care. In particular, clinician educators play an influential role in advocating IPECP. The primary goal of our exploratory pilot study is to explore 34 clinician educators’ attitudes towards IPECP by using the adapted 14-item Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale (ATHCTS) and 15-item Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS). Mean scores of ATHCTS and RIPLS were 3.81 (SD = 0.90) and 4.02 (SD = 0.79), respectively. Using exploratory factor analysis, we identified four factors: team value (ATHCTS), team efficiency (ATHCTS), teamwork and collaboration (RIPLS), and professional socialisation (RIPLS). The “team efficiency” factor on the ATHCTS scored lowest (factor mean = 3.49) compared with other factors (factor means = 3.87–4.08). Correlation analyses revealed that the “team efficiency” factor had small correlations with other factors (r = −0.05–0.37). Our clinician educators valued IPECP in promoting teamwork and professional socialisation but they perceived IPECP to compromise efficiency. The issue of perceived inefficiency by clinician educators merits attention in order to promote wider implementation of IPECP.
The Role of Power Generation and Industrial Consumption Uncertainty in De-industrialising Pakistan

The declining time path of the industrial share in GDP and employment has long been viewed as a natural outcome of the matured stages of development analogous to the radical decline in agricultural sector and a persistent move towards services sector. But the situation in country like Pakistan is not due to such structural transformation. Rather, the energy crises is expected to play a detrimental role in the growth of industrial sector. The volatility in power consumption by industrial sector and stagnant power generation not only hurts the industrial sector but also has devastating effects on the other interlinked sectors of the economy. This study endeavours to identify the role of power sector’s crises behind the industrial downfall in Pakistan and attempts to work out the extent to which this phenomenon may prevail in future. The attempt is made for Pakistan over a time span of 1970-2010. The Johansen Cointegration, Error Correction Model, Impulse Response Functions and Variance Decomposition techniques are applied to explore the short and long-run relationships among selected variables from the power sector. The uncertainty in industrial consumption of electricity and power generation are identified as major factors in undermining industrial growth whereas domestic consumption did not appear significantly volatile. For the future, power generation will remain the major contributing factor in shaping the time path of industrialisation in Pakistan.
Depression, Anxiety and Loneliness among Elderly Living in Geriatric Homes

Background: Elderly “living in old age care homes” are expanding in numbers; and are prone to psychological stress such as depression, anxiety and loneliness. Aim: This study was to assess depression, anxiety, and loneliness among elderly living in old aged homes. Research design: A descriptive exploratory design was utilized in this study. Setting: The study was conducted at the geriatric home in Benha City, Kaluobia Governorate, and the geriatric home in Tanta City, Gharbiya Governorate. Sample: A purposeful sample of 50 elderly (males & females) residing in elderly homes was included for the conduction of this study. Study tools: Tool (1): Structured Interview Questionnaire Schedule; Tool (2): Beck's Depression Inventory; Tool (3): Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS); and Tool (4): UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3). Results: About three quarters of the studied elderly have depression and more than two thirds have anxiety, while the majority of them suffer from loneliness. Regarding depression levels, less than two thirds have severe depression; more than of one third of them have severe and moderate anxiety. Regarding level of the loneliness, majority of the studied sample have severe loneliness. There is a highly statistical significant correlation between total loneliness and total depression, also between total geriatric anxiety and depression at p value . Conclusion: The study concluded that the studied elderly living in geriatrics homes had higher levels of depression, anxiety and loneliness. Recommendations: Intervention program or measures to manage or overcome anxiety, depression and loneliness among elderly living in geriatric homes.
Genetical theory and the "inborn errors of metabolism".

In recent years considerable advances have been made in our understanding of how the genetic constitution of an individual determines the enzymes and proteins that he makes; and how abnormal genes which have arisen from specific mutations in earlier generations may, because they result in the abnormal synthesis of a specific enzyme or protein, lead to the occurrence of a characteristic form of disease. The central idea is that the primary sequence of amino-acids in each of the distinctive polypeptide chains that may occur in an enzyme or protein is coded in the sequence of purine and pyramidine bases in the deoxyribonucleic acid (D.N.A.) of a corresponding gene. It can be conveniently expressed by the simple formula:
Supplementary oxygen for emergency Caesarean section under regional anaesthesia.

BACKGROUND Controversy still exists if the administration of supplementary oxygen to patients having emergency Caesarean section (CS) under regional anaesthesia is beneficial or potentially harmful. Therefore, in a prospective double-blinded study, we randomized patients having emergency CS under regional anaesthesia to receive either air or 60% oxygen until delivery and compared the effects on fetal oxygenation and lipid-peroxidation in the mother and baby. METHODS We recruited 131 women having emergency CS under regional anaesthesia. Either 21% (air group) or 60% oxygen (oxygen group) was administered using a Venturi-type facemask until delivery. We compared the oxygen exposure duration, umbilical arterial (UA) and venous (UV) blood gases and oxygen content, and plasma concentration of 8-isoprostane. Subanalysis was performed according to whether or not fetal compromise was considered present. RESULTS Data from 125 patients were analysed. For the oxygen group vs the air group, there were greater values for UA PO(2) [mean 2.2 (SD 0.5) vs 1.9 (0.6) kPa, P=0.01], UA O(2) content [6.6 (2.5) vs 4.9 (2.8) ml dl(-1), P=0.006], UV PO(2) [3.8 (0.8) vs 3.2 (0.8) kPa, P<0.0001], and UV O(2) content [12.9 (3.5) vs 10.4 (3.8) ml dl(-1), P=0.001]. There was no difference between the groups in maternal, UA, or UV 8-isoprostane concentration. Apgar scores and UA pH were similar between the groups. Similar changes were observed regardless of whether fetal compromise was considered present (n=37) or not (n=88). CONCLUSIONS Breathing 60% oxygen during emergency CS under regional anaesthesia increased fetal oxygenation with no associated increase in lipid-peroxidation in the mother or fetus.
Identification of the Staphylococcus aureus vfrAB Operon, a Novel Virulence Factor Regulatory Locus

ABSTRACT During a screen of the Nebraska Transposon Mutant Library, we identified 71 mutations in the Staphylococcus aureus genome that altered hemolysis on blood agar medium. Although many of these mutations disrupted genes known to affect the production of alpha-hemolysin, two of them were associated with an apparent operon, designated vfrAB, that had not been characterized previously. Interestingly, a ΔvfrB mutant exhibited only minor effects on the transcription of the hla gene, encoding alpha-hemolysin, when grown in broth, as well as on RNAIII, a posttranscriptional regulatory RNA important for alpha-hemolysin translation, suggesting that VfrB may function at the posttranscriptional level. Indeed, a ΔvfrB mutant had increased aur and sspAB protease expression under these conditions. However, disruption of the known secreted proteases in the ΔvfrB mutant did not restore hemolytic activity in the ΔvfrB mutant on blood agar. Further analysis revealed that, in contrast to the minor effects of VfrB on hla transcription when strains were cultured in liquid media, the level of hla transcription was decreased 50-fold in the absence of VfrB on solid media. These results demonstrate that while VfrB represses protease expression when strains are grown in broth, hla regulation is highly responsive to factors associated with growth on solid media. Intriguingly, the ΔvfrB mutant displayed increased pathogenesis in a model of S. aureus dermonecrosis, further highlighting the complexity of VfrB-dependent virulence regulation. The results of this study describe a phenotype associated with a class of highly conserved yet uncharacterized proteins found in Gram-positive bacteria, and they shed new light on the regulation of virulence factors necessary for S. aureus pathogenesis.
Clinicopathological Staging of Frontotemporal Dementia Severity: Correlation with Regional Atrophy

The pattern and degree of brain atrophy in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) has the potential for use as an aid in the diagnosis of this disorder and its differentiation from other neurodegenerative diseases. However, before this can occur, the sequence and progression of atrophy needs to be fully elucidated. Recently, we have described a four-point scheme for staging the severity of degeneration in FTD, which correlates with both duration of disease and severity of dementia [Broe M. , et al.: Neurology 2003;60:1005–1011]. When volumetric analysis is performed in post-mortem-confirmed cases of FTD, atrophy of all lobes is present by stage 2 and then progresses with successive stages. Within each lobe, there is variation in the degree of atrophy between different functionally discreet brain regions with some regions showing marked atrophy and others showing little. Much of the frontal lobe, the amygdala and hippocampus are severely atrophic by stage 2, suggesting that they are some of the earliest areas affected in FTD.
Lubricant Versus Laxative in the Treatment of Chronic Functional Constipation of Children: A Comparative Study

The efficacy of two medications commonly used in treatment of chronic functional constipation of children (CFC) was compared. Thirty-seven children (aged 3–12 years) with typical CFC were assigned at random to treatment with mineral oil or standardized senna concentrate (Senokot). The results of follow-up evaluations at 1, 3, and greater than 6 months indicate that symptom control (fecal soiling and decreased stool frequency) was significantly better in mineral-oil-treated patients. At least one recurrence of symptoms occurred in 66% of mineral-oil-treated and 89% of Senokot-treated patients. However, recurrences appeared later and less frequently in mineral-oil-treated patients. After 6 months, 55% of those treated with mineral oil had successfully discontinued regular medication. After 6 months, only 22% of Senokot-treated patients had successfully discontinued medication, while an additional 33% had stopped taking medication because of poor symptom control.
Language use and workplace participation in the identity construction of Bumiputera Malay undergraduates in Malaysia

Malay identity in research literature is often constructed as an essentialised bond between ethnicity (Bumiputera Malay), religion (Islam) and language (Bahasa Melayu). This study presents a contemporary reading of Bumiputera Malay identities by focusing mainly on language use but also taking into account the adat (culture) and jiwa (soul) as part of Malay sociohistory. Towards this aim, I examined the roles of three languages (Bahasa Melayu, English and Mandarin Chinese) in the process of identity construction for a group of Bumiputera Malay undergraduates from a Bumiputera-exclusive university in Malaysia before, during and after their industrial attachments in the final semester of their diploma studies. Working within a part essentialist and part post-structuralist framework, I carried out my fieldwork in two cycles from December 2010 to April 2011. In the first cycle, a survey instrument was used to profile 102 undergraduates from the university’s Administration and Management Faculty. Then, in the longer second cycle, eight focal students were invited to participate further. Multiple qualitative instruments were employed to collect data as these students carried out their work roles within the private sector. Using a communities of practice theoretical framework (Wenger 1998, 2009) analysis of the data revealed the interrelationships between their language use and workplace participation. The findings point to three critical phases in the process of identity construction: campus, working and future life; these are interconnected phases within their ‘life journey’. The life journey, as both process and product of identity construction, opens up multiple vantage points where the past, present and future of the undergraduates, both real and imagined, came together. This, in turn, helped them not only to imagine the selves that they wanted to become but also to exert their agency and influence episodes within their day-to-day lives. As they used the languages that they know and participated in their workplace communities, identities were constructed and reconstructed. Although not all their language and workplace experiences were useful in shaping their life trajectories, on the whole, the eight participants began to explore future possibilities when they utilised the attachment as proving grounds for themselves as young urban professionals.