Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patterns of racial differences in healthy days measures among adults age 60 and over in Pennsylvania

PUBLIC HEALTH SIGNIFICANCE. Older African Americans are more likely to report poorer self-rated health (SRH) than Caucasians even when individual-level characteristics, such as number of chronic conditions or education, are controlled. One explanation is health pessimism, which posits that African Americans are more pessimistic about their health because of non-health factors, such as perceived discrimination. We examined whether health pessimism or other factors explain the SRH differential between African Americans and Caucasians. METHOD. Research participants were members of the Community Research Registry of the Claude D. Pepper Center at the University of Pittsburgh. The cohort, recruited between 2005 and 2013 (n=2,483), is a convenience sample of residents aged 60+ living in western Pennsylvania. Participants completed the CDC Healthy Days module, which includes questions on SRH. We estimated hierarchical logistic regression models to examine demographic characteristics (race, age, gender, income, and education level), health characteristics (number of diseases), life style characteristics (current tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and physical activity), and perceived number of physically and mentally unhealthy days on reports of poor or fair health. RESULTS. African Americans were 1.6 times (95% CI=1.04, 2.45) more likely to report fair or poor SRH after controlling for demographic and health characteristics. Including lifestyle characteristics, especially physical activity and alcohol consumption attenuated the association, so that African Americans no longer differed from Caucasians in fair-poor SRH. Significant correlates of poorer SRH included male gender, less education, a greater number of diseases, number of reported unhealthy days, less physical activity, and no alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS. Health pessimism but also actual poorer health and greater number of behavioral risk factors may be responsible for greater likelihood of fair or poor SRH in older African Americans. Racial differences may partially be addressed through public health effects to improve prevention of disease and reduction of poor life style behaviors.
Dignity in Practice: An exploration of the care of older adults in acute NHS Trusts

s Submitted British Sociological Association Annual Conference, April 2011, ‘Socials, a-copias, outliers and boarders: Who is the ‘right’ acute hospital patient? ’ Hillman A, Tadd W, Calnan S and Calnan M. Calnan M, Tadd W, Hillman S , Calnan S, Bayer A and Read S ‘Right Place – Wrong Patient’: why acute hospitals do not work for older people. Health Policy and Politics Network Conference, September 2011, Oxford. Invited presentations Tadd W. and Calnan M. , (2011) ‘Dignity in practice: an exploration of the care of older adults in acute NHS trusts’ SDO Network Chief Executives’ Forum, May 5 London and May 19 Nottingham. Tadd W, Hillman S , Calnan S, Calnan M, Bayer A and Read S. , (2011) Keynote presentation ‘Dignity in Care: The reality of making it happen in practice’ Dignity in Care Conference: Because it matters, hosted by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and Staffordshire University, Faculty of Health, Shropshire Education and Conference Centre 12 May 2011 . © Queen’s Printer and Controller of HMSO 2011. This work was produced by Tadd et al. under the terms of a commissioning contract issued by the Secretary of State for Health. Project 08/1819/218 255 Tadd W, Hillman S , Calnan S, Calnan M, Bayer A and Read S. , (2011) ‘From right placewrong person to Right place right person’ invited presentation Delivering Better Health Services, 2011 Joint HSRN and SDO Network Annual Conference, 7 and 8 June 2011, Liverpool. Win Tadd has been invited to give a key note paper at the British Geriatric Society National Meeting May 16 – 18 2012, Llandudno. Presentations Hillman A, Tadd W, Calnan S and Calnan M W, Embodiment, identity and accomplishing dignity: Caring for older people on acute hospital wards, World Congress of Sociology held in Gothenburg, Sweden, July 11 to 17, 2010.
A Delay-Dependent Approach to Stability of Uncertain Discrete-Time State-Delayed Systems with Generalized Overflow Nonlinearities

This paper addresses the problem of global asymptotic stability of a class of uncertain discrete-time state-delayed systems employing generalized overflow nonlinearities. The systems under investigation involve parameter uncertainties that are assumed to be deterministic and norm bounded. A new computationally tractable delay-dependent criterion for global asymptotic stability of such systems is presented. A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Problems of terminal care in elderly patients

The care given to 27 elderly men dying in a geriatric ward was examined and compared with terminal care directed to younger patients dying with cancer. Important practical differences were highlighted: 1) Difficulties in communication with elderly dying patients are frequently encountered and require heightened powers of observation of nonverbal information and empathy. 2) There is often little time for staff to provide effective terminal care for elderly patients. The diagnosis of dying is frequently made by exclusion, after failure of standard medical treatment. It is more difficult in the absence of neoplasia and requires a more holistic approach to patient care. 3) A significant proportion of elderly patients who die in hospital do not have family or friends to visit them and may require additional attention and support.
Fratura de mandíbula: estudo epidemiológico de 70 casos

BACKGROUND: Mandible fractures are most often caused by direct trauma, but occasionally, pathologic fractures may occur due to tumor lesions. The surgical approach is determined by the type and the location of the mandible fracture. This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological profile of 70 patients who suffered mandible fracture and underwent surgery at Instituto Dr. Jose Frota (Fortaleza, CE) between January 2005 and December 2009. METHODS: We analyzed medical records of 70 patients who underwent surgical treatment for mandibular fractures and assessed gender, age, skin color, anatomic site of fracture, etiology, associated fractures, treatment, hospitalization and complications. RESULTS: There was male predominance (90%) among patients, with a mean patient age of 28.25 + 11.04 years. Most patients (80%) were Caucasian and from small towns (68%). The most affected jaw sites, in descending order, were the parasymphysis region, body, and angle. The major cause was traffic accidents (70%), with motorcycle accidents being the most prevalent (55.7%). The main associated facial fractures were maxilla fracture type Le Fort and zygomatic-orbital. Surgical treatment was carried out with rigid internal fixation in most patients (75%). The only complication was infection in one patient. CONCLUSIONS: Reduction and fixation of mandibular fractures should occur as accurately and quickly as possible, since malocclusion is an important long-term complication. In our study, we did not observe such a complication; there was only one case of infection. Concurrent with the findings of other studies, there was a prevalence of young adult males among patients, and traffic accidents were the main cause. The fractures were frequently located in the parasymphysis region and were corrected through rigid internal fixation in 75% of cases.
Current synthetic inhibitors of human neutrophil elastase

The imbalance between human neutrophil elastase (HNE, EC 3.4.21.37) and endogenous antiproteinases is considered to cause various HNE-mediated inflammatory disorders, such as adult respiratory distress syndrome, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary emphysema and rheumatoid arthritis. To realise the optimum therapeutic approach and investigate accurate pathogenic mechanism of these diseases, new synthetic HNE inhibitors have been under development. Through the long-time intensive research by many pharmaceutical industries and institutes, the most promising strategies at present may result in the application of two-types of small-molecular-weight HNE inhibitors: acyl-enzyme inhibitors (ONO-5046, L-694458 and MR-889) or transition-state inhibitors (ONO-6818, AE-3763 and FK-706). This review mainly focuses on the experimental and clinical evaluation of recent synthetic HNE inhibitors, including 14 current patent reports claimed since 1998.
ANTIPLATELET ANTIBODIES IN IDIOPATHIC THROMBOCYTOPENIC PURPURA

I have read with interest the recent article entitled ‘An in vitro direct chemiluminescence assay for assessment of plateletbound antibody in thrombocytopenic patients’ (Kazemi et al. 1991). The authors, without looking at our study (Ozsoylu et al, 1977). stated that ‘the interaction between phagocytes and autologous autosensitized platelets was not measured’. In our study it was looked for in vivo but could not be found (~zsoylu et al, 1977). I would also l i e to bring to the authors attention that by using the method described by Handel & Stossel (1974) we were able to detect antiplatelet antibodies (APA) in all 103 patients with acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and 46 patients with chronic ITP. These antibodies could also be found during remission in all children who had had acute (100 cases) and chronic (32 cases) ITP, although the level was markedly lower than that during the thrombocytopenic period. Moreover, a rise in the APA level was seen during relapse in four chronic and two acute ITP patients. A decrease of APA was also shown by two out of four children who had re-entered remission after relapsed chronic ITP (c)zsoylu et aI, 1991). APA were not found in any of 126 control sera obtained from 67 haematologically normal individuals and 59 thrombocytopenic patients of whom 28 had acute leukaemia. 10 acquired aplastic anaemia, 10 Fanconi’s anaemia and 11 sepsis with thrombocytopenia ((lzsoylu et al. 1991). The persistence of APA during remission in cases of acute and chronic ITP, previously reported by us ((lzsoylu et al, 1976), explains the shorter survival of platelets in these children. Although the results of Kazemi et al (1991) are somewhat supportive of our findings it could be concluded that the method of Handin & Stossel (1974) is more appropriate for the detection of APA in ITP cases in relapse or in remission even though the two methods are very similar in principle.
What academic advisors need to provide better student support - lessons from a Malaysian medical school

Background: Academic support programmes have an important part to play in addressing the needs of students experiencing difficulties. A quality assurance exercise by the national accreditation body highlighted the fact that academic staff involved in non-academic counselling had no prior training. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the academic advisor programme in a Malaysian medical school from the academic advisors’ perspective in order to determine their understanding of their role, their experiences and needs. Method: Focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 10 academic advisors were conducted using a semi-structured interview schedule. Results: Study participants demonstrated some instinctive understanding of their role (especially as role models in their professional development) although they did not have clear guidelines. They strongly expressed a need for training in counselling skills and better administrative support. There was some reluctance to undertake the task of academic advising as there were no perceived rewards or incentives. Conclusions: The training of academic advisors needs to be addressed in faculty development programmes. Strong institutional administrative support is important with efficient channels of communication to academic advisors on student performance and other relevant information. Teaching activities need due institutional recognition and reward. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Progression of disease in a more clinically relevant mouse model of respiratory melioidosis

In acute and lethal infections, antibiotics reduce mortality and therefore extend the duration of the immune response. The progression of the immune response to acute,Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243 infection, via the aerosol route, in BALB/c mice treated with doxycycline (7 days, daily, orally) was explored. The therapy extended survival and limited bacterial growth in the lungs. After cessation of antibiotic therapy, bacterial numbers resurged. The numbers of phagocytes continued to increase with secondary bacterial growth, while inflammatory cytokine concentrations declined. We propose that this model may be more pertinent for the study of human melioidosis. Key words: Burkholderia pseudomallei, respiratory, pulmonary, innate immunity, cytokines, bacteria, leukocytes, neutrophils, macrophages, monocytes, antibiotics, doxycycline.
The Use of Risk of Malignancy Index for Adnexal Masses

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Risk of Malignancy Index (RMI) to identify cases with high potential of ovarian malignancy Methods: A total of 106 patients with adnexal masses were included in this prospective, observational study. The ultrasound findings, menopausal status and serum CA125 level were documented. Ultrasound characteristics, documented preoperatively, and assessed with RMI scoring to detect the relationship between benign and malign groups. The statistical analysis was done using statistical software (NCSS 2008). The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of serum CA125, ultrasound findings and menopausal status were calculated separately and combined into RMI. Results: The best cut-off value for the RMI was 189 with a sensitivity of 84.8%, a specificity of 81.6%, a PPV of 78% and a NPV of 87.5%. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that RMI was a reliable method detecting pelvic masses with high risk of malignancy. Herewith, RMI leads selecting patients who need to be referred to gynecologic oncologists.
Effect of Body Condition Score at Parturition on Post-partum Productive and Reproductive Performance in Crossbred Dairy Cows

Twenty three HF crossbred cows with 260-270 days gestation were selected for the study. The animals were grouped based on their body condition score (BCS) in to three groups I, II and III with 2.5-2.99, 3.00-3.49 and 3.5 and above 3.5 respectively. The objective of the present study was to quantify the relationships between body condition score (BCS; scale 1 to 5), live weight (WT) changes, milk production and reproductive performance in crossbred dairy cows during 60 days of postpartum. The mean BCS at calving were 2.72±0.05, 3.20±0.03 and 3.74±0.011 for group I, II and III respectively. Statistical analysis reveals that significant associations were observed on productive performance but no significant association on reproductive performance. However, cows in group-III with BCS > 3.5 at calving had the most favorable reproduction indicators when compared to group I and II. The cows having high BCS at calving had lost more condition and body weight, when compared to cows with low body condition and lesser body weights.
Analysis Of Blood Donor Deferral Causes In Chennai, India

Introduction: Blood donors are deferred from donating blood for several reasons. A shortage of safe blood donors is frequent and it is important to understand the causes of deferral of potential donors. Efforts to ensure donor and recipient safety have reduced the population of eligible voluntary blood donors. Aims and Objectives: The objective of our study is to evaluate the rate and major reasons of blood donor deferrals in our center. Material and methods: A retrospective study was done during 2007-2009 on the donors who came forward for donation. Donor eligibility criteria were followed according to the National guidelines for blood donation. Donors who were deferred were analyzed according to their age, sex and reason for deferral. Results: Of the 10,440 donors, 1180 (11.16%) donors were deferred. Low hemoglobin was the most common cause of donor deferral which was found in 438 (37.11%) donors followed by high blood pressure found in 259 (21.94%) donors. More number of female donors was deferred as compared to males. The deferral rate increases as the age increases. Conclusion: A deferral study in blood donors may shed light on the health status of the general population which may affect the blood supply. Risk factors and marker rates derived from the donor pool may be useful to gain insights regarding public health issues. Most of temporary deferral donors will return for donation in future. It is important to provide donors with a clear message on their deferral status. Deferrals for whatever reason represent loss of time and effort for both potential donors and blood bank staff.
Evaluation of Sensitization to Various Foods in a Subset of Subjects from Saudi Arabia

This study investigated sensitization to various foods in a subset of patients presenting to a n allergy clinic with symptoms suggestive of a possible food allergy. A total of 243 subjects who visited the clinic were further screened and assessed for specific IgE antibodies to different food allergens by using the Radio Allergosorbent Test (RAST). IgE-antibodies specific for different foods were detected in 15.6% out of 243 patients. The maximum number of positive reactions were observed among these subjects to whea t (45%) followed by egg/egg white (40%), cow's milk (39%), sesame seeds (35%) and soya bean (30%). Positive reactions were also found towards orange, rice, peanut, cashew nuts and dates. Most of th e reactions fell in Class 2 followed by Class 3 and Class 1. These results are important and gave an idea of the most common food items to which allergic subjects were sensitized to. However, more studies are needed to gather data with respect to the various types of food allergy in the Saudi Arabian population for appropriate preventive measures to be put in place.
Mentoring for Medical Undergraduates - Feedback from Mentees (Need For Training of Mentors)

Objective: The need for mentoring of undergraduate medical students has been well perceived and several medical institutions have started the practice of setting up mentoring programs. Program evaluation is essential in establishing an effective mentoring program. With students being the core of the program, their expectations from the program needs due consideration to analyze the outcome efficacy of the program. This study was done as part of program evaluation to analyze the opinion of mentees on impact of mentoring and on mentee-mentor relationship. The aim was to use the input of this feedback to improve the conduction of the program for the next batch of students. Material & Methods: A mentoring program was started for 150 1 st M.B. B.S students . After one year a feedback questionnaire with 15 likert type items and 4 open ended questions was given. The questions were pertaining to process , outcome of program and mentor-mentee relationships. Two of the open ended questions were based on concept of negative mentoring. 125 students gave feedback voluntarily. Results: 85% of mentees agreed upon the need for mentoring for all students. Majority felt that mentoring had only helped in academics and not in improving behavior. More than 50% agreed that mentors should be involved in personal aspects besides academics. Responses to open ended questions has well expressed their expectations from mentors and perceived lacunae . There was a clear perception on the need for quality in mentoring. Their responses has also given us a list of causes for discordant mentor-mentee relationship, majority of which can be rectified by training mentors. Conclusion: Feedback from students after implementing a mentoring program can be considered very essential for effective mentoring. The feedback has exposed the need to have good mentors who can build a satisfying trustworthy mentoring relationship. Training for mentors can be an effective solution and should be a part of the mentoring program early during the planning phase. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3126/ajms.v2i3. 4807 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences 2 (2011) 151-158
Characterization of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus from various clinical samples at tertiary care hospital of rural Gujarat

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an established pathogen in most health care facilities. MRSA strains are also important for their resistance to many other commonly used antibiotics. Objectives: To find out prevalence of MRSA strains and coproduction of β-lactamase and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of these strains. Materials and Methods: During the period of September 2009 to December 2010, a total of 200 strains of S. aureus were isolated from various specimens of different patients attending and admitted at C. U. Shah Medical College and Hospital, Surendranagar, Gujarat. Standard procedures were followed for isolation and identification of S. aureus isolates. Antibiotic susceptibility testing and detection of MRSA was done by Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method, as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. The production of β-lactamase was studied by the rapid method using nitrocefin disk. Results: Among 200 isolates of S. aureus, 117 (58.5 %) were methicillin-resistant, of which 110 (94.02%) were found to be multidrug-resistant. Among 117 MRSA strains, 86.59 % were resistant to ciproﬂoxacin, 81.71% were resistant to cephalexin, 80.49% were resistant to cefaclor and 79.27% were resistant to erythromycin. Vancomycin was the most effective drug as all MRSA isolates were sensitive to it. 93.90% MRSA isolates were sensitive to linezolid and 91.46% were sensitive to teicoplanin. 82.91% MRSA isolates were also co-producers of β-lactamase. Conclusions: The high incidence of MRSA in this hospital warrants for the judicial use of antibiotics and application of infection control measures to avoid therapeutic crisis resulting from multidrug-resistant MRSA. Key Words: MRSA, Staph aureus, Rural Gujarat
Measuring Cognitive Characteristics Associated with Adoption and Implementation of Health Innovations in Schools

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to operationalize adopter characteristics identified by Rogers and assess their relationship to the adoption and implementation of health innovations in schools. Design. A two-year cohort study of teachers was used following introduction of a new health promotion program. Subjects. From a randomly selected statewide sample of 300 second grade Texas teachers, 131 completed an initial questionnaire (54% of 244 eligible participants). Among those 131 who completed the initial questionnaire, 103 (79%) completed a follow-up postcard in year two. These represented 42 % of the original sample eligible to participate. Measures. The self-administered questionnaire explored the structure of underlying cognitions towards adoption of innovations, teachers' communication patterns with health agencies, responses to various tobacco prevention and general educational materials, and the association of their views about adoption with practice. Descriptive statistics, principal components analysis, and nonparametric correlation coefficients were used. Results. Three components of teacher views which measured adopter characteristics described by Rogers (1983) were identified: Innovativeness, Need for Collegial Support, and Conservativeness. Respective levels of reliability were . 83, . 76, and . 60. Associations of the components with user communication patterns with health agencies and use of innovations were found. Conclusions. Scales identified adopter cognitions associated with use of innovations. These may be used to diagnose target audiences, plan training programs, and expand research to enhance adoption and use of new programs.