Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Promoting physical activity after stroke via self-management: a feasibility study

Abstract Background: Many people with mild disability after stroke are physically inactive despite the risk of recurrent stroke. A self-management program may be one strategy to increase physical activity in stroke survivors. Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of a self-management program, and determine whether self-management can increase daily physical activity levels and self-efficacy for exercise, decrease cardiovascular risk, and improve walking ability, participation, and quality of life in people with mild disability after stroke. Method: A Phase I, single-group, pre-post intervention study was carried out with twenty stroke survivors who had mild disability and were discharged directly home from acute stroke units. A self-management program was delivered via five home-based sessions over 3 months, incorporating: education, goal setting, barrier identification, self-monitoring, and feedback. Feasibility of the intervention was determined by examining adherence, duration, usefulness, and safety. Clinical outcomes were amount of physical activity (duration of moderate physical activity in min/day and counts of physical activity in steps/day), self-efficacy, cardiovascular risk, walking ability, participation, and quality of life. Results: The intervention was feasible with 96% of sessions being delivered, each taking less than an hour (41 min, SD 12). Participants perceived the self-management program to be useful and there were few adverse events. At 3 months, participants completed 27 min/day (95% CI 4–49) more moderate physical activity than at baseline and 16 min/day (95% CI −10 to 42) at 6 months. Conclusion: Self-management appears to be feasible and has the potential to increase physical activity in people with mild disability after stroke. A Phase II randomized trial is warranted.
Correlation between Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutations and Expression of Female Hormone Receptors in East-Asian Lung Adenocarcinomas

Introduction: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are more common in lung adenocarcinoma and in female patients of East-Asian origin. We aimed to assess the expression of female hormone receptors in East-Asian lung adenocarcinomas, their correlation with EGFR mutations, and prognostic significance. Methods: Estrogen receptor (ER)&agr;, ER&bgr;, progesterone receptor (PR), and Her-2 expression were examined using immunohistochemical methods on 109 lung adenocarcinoma cases. EGFR mutations were analyzed by partially denaturing high performance liquid chromatography. Association of hormone receptor with clinical factors was assessed using the Fisher's exact test. Associations with survival were assessed using the Cox proportional hazard model. Results: Using scoring criteria routinely used for breast cancer, there were four (4%) ER&agr;, one (1%) ER&bgr;, six (6%) PR, and one (1%) Her-2 positive cases. Considering any staining as positive, 14 (14%) ER&agr;, 10 (9%) ER&bgr;, 12 (12%) PR, and 26 (24%) Her-2 cases were positive. Thirty-nine patients (39%) had EGFR mutations. ER&agr; positivity was significantly associated with ER&bgr; and PR positivity. There were more EGFR mutations seen in tumors with ERß positivity (60%) compared with those with negative expression (37.9%), and there was a trend toward a poorer outcome for patients with tumor that were positive for ERß and Her-2. Conclusions: We found that ER&agr;, ER&bgr;, PR, and Her-2 expression in lung adenocarcinoma are present but limited. This suggests that hormonal influence may not be an important factor to account for the high prevalence of lung cancer among the East-Asian women.
Initial Experience with Catheter Ablation Using Remote Magnetic Navigation in Adults with Complex Congenital Heart Disease and in Small Children

Background: The improved outcomes and increased availability of surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) over the last three decades have created a small but steadily increasing subset of patients with unique needs: children and adults with complex arrhythmias in the setting of structural cardiac abnormalities. Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) in these patients, and in small children with normal cardiac anatomy, is effective but challenging. An understanding of specific anatomical and electrophysiological characteristics of these patients and the technical challenges in addressing them are critical to the success of this therapy. Tools specifically designed for intracardiac diagnosis and therapy in anatomically complex and/or small hearts remain scarce.
Impact of women's work on maternal and child nutrition

The impact of women's participation in economic activity on nutrition status of the mother and her preschool‐age children was examined in 309 rural women selected by purposive sampling. Time spent on housework, child care, and economic activity on a typical day was ascertained by recall of time use on the previous day. Dietary intake was estimated by recall method. Nutrition status was assessed by anthropometry and clinical deficiency signs. In a sub‐sample finger‐prick blood was examined for haemoglobin and riboflavin status. The data were collected in three seasons. The effects of season and land holding as well as occupation were also examined. Malnutrition was widespread in both the mothers and the children. The time saved by house wives not engaged in economic activity was not adequately reflected in time devoted to child care. Minor influences of land holding, season, and mother's occupation on diet and nutrition of mothers and children were seen but the differences in most cases were statistically not significant. Working mothers and their children tended to show higher prevalence of signs of B‐complex deficiency than housewives and their children. Seasonal effects on vitamin deficiency signs were seen in children.
Chronic exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides and neuropsychological functioning in farm workers: a review

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that acute poisoning from exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides in agricultural workers causes adverse health effects. However, neuropsychological and cognitive effects of chronic occupational exposure to OP pesticides remain controversial. Objective: To identify, evaluate, and systematize existing evidence regarding chronic exposure to OP pesticides and neuropsychological effects in farmworkers. Methods: Using the PubMed search engine, a systematic review process was implemented and replicated according to the PRISMA statement. Eligibility criteria included workers over 18 years of age exposed to OP pesticides as well as assessment of neuropsychological and cognitive functioning. Search terms were in English and Spanish languages and included organophosphate and workers. Results: Of the search results, 33 of 1,256 articles meet eligibility criteria. Twenty-four studies found an association between chronic occupational exposure to OP pesticides and low neuropsychological performance in workers. We classified nine of the studies to have study design limitations. Studies indicated occupational exposure to OP pesticides is linked to difficulties in executive functions, psychomotor speed, verbal, memory, attention, processing speed, visual–spatial functioning, and coordination. Nine studies find no relationship between OP pesticides exposure and neuropsychological performance. Conclusions: Overall, evidence suggests an association between chronic occupational exposure to OP pesticides and neuropsychological effects. However, there is no consensus about the specific cognitive skills affected.
Unsuspected Pulmonary Emboli in Oncology Patients Undergoing Routine Computed Tomography Imaging

Introduction: Clinically unsuspected pulmonary embolism (PE) can be detected in oncology patients undergoing computed tomography (CT) imaging for reasons other than for PE diagnosis, but there is little prospective data on its true prevalence, clinical importance, or on methods to improve detection. Methods: In consecutive oncology patients undergoing CT imaging of the chest for indications other than PE detection, CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) was systematically included as part of the imaging protocol. Each imaging study was prospectively analyzed for the presence of PE. A 6-month follow-up was performed. Institutional review board approval was obtained. Results: Four hundred seven oncology patients were included. Indications for chest CT imaging included baseline staging (31%), restaging after therapy (53%), routine surveillance (15%), or assessment of extrathoracic disease (1%). Clinically unsuspected PE were detected in 18 patients (4.4%). The prevalence of unsuspected PE was 6.4% among inpatients and 3.4% among outpatients. PE was more prevalent among patients with metastatic disease (7% versus 2%, p = 0.007) and in patients who had received recent chemotherapy (11% versus 3%, p = 0.008). In 7 (39%) of the 18 patients with clinically unsuspected PE, emboli were only identifiable on the CTPA study and not on the routine chest CT study. The diagnosis of PE led to immediate changes in patient management. Conclusion: Clinically unsuspected PE is present in up to 4.4% of oncology patients undergoing CT imaging for indications other than PE diagnosis. Modifying standard CT imaging protocols to include a CTPA examination optimizes their detection and leads to changes in patient management.
The 3-in-1 Procedure for Management of Recurrent Instability of the Patella in Skeletally Immature Athletes

Few surgical procedures are suitable for the management of recurrent patellar instability in skeletally immature patients. A combination of 3 soft tissue procedures is described. These include a lateral release, medial transfer of the medial one third of the patellar tendon to the medial collateral ligament, and advancement of the medial static and dynamic stabilizing structures. Good success has been achieved with this procedure over time with no long-term complications.
Analysis of the diffusion tensor imaging parameters of a normal cervical spinal cord in a healthy population

Background: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) shows great advantage in the diagnosis of brain diseases, including cervical spinal cord (CSC) disease. This study aims to obtain the normal values of the DTI parameters for a healthy population and to establish a baseline for CSC disease diagnosis using DTI. Methods: A total of 36 healthy adults were subjected to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the entire CSC using the Siemens 3.0 T MR System. Sagittal DTI acquisition was carried out with a single-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence along 12 non-collinear directions. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were determined at different cervical levels using a region of interest (ROI) method, following which they were correlated with parameters, like age and sex. Further, diffusion tensor tracking (DTT) was carried out to reconstruct the white matter fiber bundles of the CSC. Results: The full and complete fiber bundle structure of a normal CSC was confirmed in both the T2-weighted and DTI images. The FA and ADC values were significantly negatively correlated with each other and showed strongly negative and positive correlations with age, respectively, but not with sex. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the FA and the ADC values at different cervical levels. Conclusion: The DTI technique can act as an important supplement to the conventional MRI technique for CSC observation. Moreover, the FA and ADC values can be used as sensitive parameters in the DTI study on the CSC by taking the effects of age into consideration.
Hypotensive effect in rats of hydrophilic extract from Terminalia arjuna containing tannin‐related compounds

The effects of extracts containing tannin‐related compounds from Terminalia arjuna, which has been used in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders by Ayurvedic physicians, on the blood pressure and heart rate of rats were examined. An aqueous extract of Terminalia arjuna produced a transient decrease in blood pressure accompanied by a slight decrease in heart rate. The hypotensive effect was observed with a fraction containing tannin‐related compounds (F2) separated from the aqueous extract. The hypotensive effect of F2 was not affected by pretreatment of rats with propranolol, but was attenuated by pretreatment with atropine. The effects on blood pressure of acetylcholine, epinephrine, isoproterenol and bilateral carotid occlusion, were not affected by treatment with F2. These results suggest that an aqueous fraction of Terminalia arjuna containing tannin‐related compounds has a hypotensive effect in the rat, which may be mediated by cholinergic mechanisms. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Development and utility of pirfenidone in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: review of preclinical science and recent clinical trials

Pirfenidone is a pyridine-derived, double-ringed molecule that has a number of biologic effects including anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic properties in rodent models of acute lung injury and fibrosis, in addition to scavenging reactive oxygen species. These effects are clinically relevant, because idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and increasingly prevalent disease characterized by diffuse lung scarring due to alveolar epithelial cell injury, which typically leads to death 3-5 years after diagnosis. No proven therapy for IPF exists, and many IPF patients eventually require lung transplantation, making the need for pharmacologic therapy great. Pirfenidone is rapidly distributed in body water and metabolized by the liver. Several clinical trials have tested pirfenidone in patients with IPF and found it well-tolerated with acceptable side effects. Pirfenidone in clinical trials has been found to improve progression-free survival and pulmonary function of IPF patients. Although the specific mechanism accounting for its benefits is not known, pirfenidone decreases collagen synthesis and fibroblast prolifera- tion, and it may down-regulate inflammation by virtue of its effects on mitogen-activated protein kinases. Pirfenidone has gained regulatory approval for marketing in Japan and in the European Union. It could prove to be a useful therapeutic agent for patients with IPF.
The impact of impulse postfix length on the BER performance of IP‐OFDM systems

The impulse postfix OFDM (IP‐OFDM) system exploits the IP, which consists of a high power impulse sample and several zero samples at the end of a zero padded‐OFDM symbol block, to estimate channel impulse response (CIR) in time domain. In this paper, the impact of IP length on the BER performance of the IP‐OFDM system is analyzed. According to the analytic results, the BER performance can be significantly degraded with both a shorter length of IP as well as a longer length of IP than that of the CIR. Thus, an adaptive IP scheme, which adjusts the length of IP adaptively depending on the length of CIR, is proposed to enhance the BER performance of IP‐OFDM systems and its effectiveness is demonstrated by computer simulations. The BER performance of the IP‐OFDM systems with the proposed adaptive scheme is compared with that of the conventional IP‐OFDM system over various modulation schemes. Simulation results show that the IP‐OFDM with the proposed scheme can achieve about 2 dB performance enhancement compared with that of conventional systems at BER=10−2. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of Bepridil Versus E‐4031 on Transmural Ventricular Repolarization and Inducibility of Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias in the Dog

Background: Bepridil (a multiple channel blocker) may markedly prolong the QT interval and induce polymorphic ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTA). We compared the transmural ventricular repolarization characteristics and inducibility of polymorphic VTA after administration of bepridil versus the pure IKr blocker, E‐4031, each administered to five open‐chest dogs.
Clinical Characteristics of Focal Atrial Tachycardias Arising from the Atrial Appendages during Childhood

Background: Focal atrial tachycardias (ATs) arising from the atrial appendages (AAT) are uncommon in adults. On the other hand, we frequently encounter AATs during childhood. However, the topographic distribution and clinical characteristics of focal ATs during childhood have not yet been clearly revealed. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of AATs in childhood.
Review of Research for People With ID and Mental Health Problems: A View From the United Kingdom

This review of research into mental disorders in people with intellectual disabilities (ID) focuses on research in this field that has originated from the United Kingdom in the last 2 decades. It considers research developments into the epidemiology of mental disorders and problem behaviors, psychopharmacology, psychosocial interventions, and services for people with ID.
Gefitinib Enhances Cytotoxicities of Antimicrotubule Agents in Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer Cells Exhibiting No Sensitizing Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutation

Introductions: Although randomized clinical trials showed no benefit from combining epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) with standard chemotherapy for advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), better results might be obtained by combining EGFR-TKI with individual agents that are substrates for the adenosine triphosphate binding cassette transporters (ABCTs) because EGFR-TKIs can inhibit their efflux. The combination effects deserved to be further examined in vitro. Methods: The combination effects of gefitinib with three antimicrotubule agents (AMTAs), paclitaxel, docetaxel or vinorelbine, or with gemcitabine were tested in 17 NSCLC cell lines using the tetrazolium colorimetric assay and classical isobole method. The effects of drug combinations, identified by the values of mean combination index (mCIs), were correlated with the expression levels of ABCTs. Dose-versus-log-response curves were analyzed to further evaluate the possible mechanisms of drug interactions. Results: Synergistic gefitinib/AMTA interactions were observed in the tested cell lines. The synergism was more robust in the four lines overexpressing de novo or acquired P-glycoprotein (Pgp; individual mCIs range, 0.484–0.859; all p values were < 0.05), or in 12 cell lines exhibiting no sensitizing EGFR mutations (group mCIs for gefitinib/paclitaxel, gefitinib/docetaxel, and gefitinib/vinorelbine were 0.869, 0.82, and 0.853, respectively. All p values were < 0.02). The synergism could be observed in cells expressing nearly undetectable Pgp and other ABCTs tested in this study. The combination of gefitinib/gemcitabine was additive (mCI = 1.027). Conclusions: Combined gefitinib/AMTAs showed synergism in NSCLC cells harboring no sensitizing EGFR mutations. Gefitinib could enhance AMTA effects through mechanisms not restricted to Pgp blockage.
Spheroid Culture of Primary Lung Cancer Cells with Neuregulin 1/HER3 Pathway Activation

Introduction: Primary culture of cancer cells is expected to be useful for investigating the biology of cancer and predicting chemosensitivity for individual patients, yet has been hampered by technical difficulties. We recently developed the cancer tissue–originated spheroid (CTOS) method for the primary culture of colorectal cancer cells. In the present study, we applied this system to the primary culture of non–small-cell lung cancer. Methods: We used 125 surgical specimens and 18 pleural effusions for CTOS preparation. Partially digested tumor fragments were cultured in a medium for embryonic stem cells. CTOSs were subjected to sensitivity assay and signal transduction assay for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) erlotinib. We also investigated the effects of growth factors in culturing lung cancer CTOS. Results: The success rate of CTOS preparation from surgical specimens was 80.0%. The CTOS method was also suitable for culturing tumor spheroids from pleural effusions. CTOSs from lung cancer consisted mostly of pure cancer cells. CTOSs and CTOS-derived xenografts retained the characteristics of the original tumors. In vitro assay results showed that EGFR mutation status and expression levels corresponded with erlotinib sensitivity, confirming previous clinical findings. Furthermore, we found that neuregulin 1, a ligand of HER3, potently induced CTOS growth. Conclusions: The CTOS method enables us to obtain primary lung tumor cells of high viability and purity. CTOS could be a new platform for studying lung cancer biology.
Incidence of Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer among California Hispanics According to Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status

Introduction: Lung cancer incidence is associated with markers of lower socioeconomic status (SES) in whites, blacks, and Asians but with markers of higher SES in Hispanics. The magnitude and etiology of this positive gradient in Hispanics remain undefined. We examined non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) incidence and ever-smoking rates among California Hispanics according to measures of SES. Methods: We computed neighborhood (n)SES-specific incidence rates by sex and race or ethnicity for 74,179 NSCLC cases in the California Cancer Registry, 1998–2002. Associations between nSES and NSCLC incidence were examined, using incidence rate ratios and linear trend tests, and stratified by age, stage, and histology. Ever-smoking rates among Hispanics were obtained from California Health Interview Survey 2001 data, and odds ratios for ever-smoking were calculated for measures of SES and acculturation. Results: Compared with the lowest nSES quintile, the NSCLC incidence in the highest quintile was 1.86 and 1.18 times higher for Hispanic women and men, respectively. The positive nSES gradients remained significant for all ages, stages, and nonsquamous histologies in women, and only for older age, local or regional stages, and adenocarcinoma histology in men. Ever-smoking rates were associated with English-speaking households and U.S.-born status for Hispanic women and low education and U.S.-born status for Hispanic men. Conclusions: For California Hispanics, higher nSES was strongly associated with increased NSCLC incidence in women, but weakly associated in men, and ever-smoking rates were strongly correlated with increased acculturation. This finding may portend an increasing burden of NSCLC in Hispanic women, given future trends in acculturation and SES.