Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship of mental health and burnout with empathy among medical students in Thailand: A multicenter cross-sectional study

Objectives To explore mental health, burnout, and the factors associated with the level of empathy among Thai medical students. Background Empathy is an important component of a satisfactory physician-patient relationship. However, distress, including burnout and lack of personal well-being, are recognized to affect a lower level of empathy. Material and methods A cross-sectional study surveyed sixth-year medical students at three faculties of medicine in Thailand at the end of the 2020 academic year. The questionnaires utilized were: 1) Personal and demographic information questionnaire, 2) Thai Mental Health Indicator-15, 3) The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Thai version, and 4) The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. All data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and factors associated with empathy level were analyzed via the Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test, logistic regression. , and linear regression. Results There were 336 respondents with a response rate of 70.3%. The majority were female (61.9%). Most participants reported a below-average level of empathy (61%) with a median score (IQR) of 43 (39–40). Assessment of emotion comprehension in others and altruism had the highest median empathy subgroup scores, whereas behaviors engaging higher-order empathic responses had the lowest median empathy subgroup score. One-third of participants (32.1%) had poor mental health, and two-thirds (62.8%) reported a high level of emotional exhaustion even though most of them perceived having a high level of personal accomplishment (97%). The multivariate analysis indicated that mental health was statistically significantly associated with the level of empathy. The participants with higher levels of depersonalization had statistically lower scores of demonstrating appropriate sensitivity, altruism, and behaviors engaging higher-order empathic responding. Conclusions Most medical students had below-average empathy levels, and two-thirds of them had high emotional exhaustion levels, yet most of them reported having a high level of personal accomplishment and good mental health. There was an association between mental health and the level of empathy. Higher levels of depersonalization related to lower scores of demonstrating sensitivity, altruism, and behaviors responding. Therefore, medical educators should pay close attention to promoting good mental health among medical students.
Effect of after‐school physical activity on body composition in primary school children: The Slovak “PAD” project

Physical activity is associated with many physical and mental health benefits. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a 24‐month after‐school physical activity intervention on body composition in normal‐weight children. Participating students (6–7 years of age at baseline) were divided by reason of their parental preference to intervention and control groups. Children in the intervention group (n = 20; 10 boys and 10 girls) followed an aerobic training program (two 60‐min sessions per week), whereas children in the control group (n = 20; 10 boys and 10 girls) participated in the usual practice. Body composition characteristics were repeatedly measured by means of bioelectrical impedance method. At 2 years, finally, intervention boys had a smaller rise in BMI (mean difference, MD: −0.97 kg/m2, p < 0.05), BMI z‐score (−0.44, p < 0.09), body fat % (BF%) (−6.47%, p < 0.01), and fat mass index (FMI) (−1.32 kg/m2, p < 0.001) than controls. In girls, however, the intervention program induced no significant differences (p > 0.9) in the measured variables compared to controls at the final follow‐up (MD: −0.04 kg/m2 for BMI and −0.01 for BMI z‐score). Changes in BF% and FMI in a positive direction occurred at 18 months (MD: −3.38%, p < 0.05 and −0.99 kg/m2, p < 0.01, respectively), but did not persist over time (p > 0.07). In addition, no significant changes (p > 0.07) in the fat‐free mass index were associated with the physical activity intervention in either boys or girls. In conclusion, compared to the controls, a long‐term physical activity intervention in boys was associated with a significantly smaller rise in BMI and improvement of body composition by reducing both BF % and FMI. In girls, however, this intervention did not result in any statistically significant changes in body composition variables.
Validation of the motion sickness severity scale: Secondary analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of a treatment for motion sickness

Background Motion sickness is characterized by nausea and vomiting among a constellation of symptoms. Symptom severity is dynamic and distressing. Most validated motion sickness scales are time-intensive and effortful, with alternative scales having uncertain performance or non-specific measures. A validated instrument allowing for facile, rapid assessment of core motion sickness symptom severity would therefore be valuable. We assessed the performance of the Motion Sickness Severity Scale (MSSS), a six-item questionnaire designed to measure real-time motion sickness symptoms. Methods MSSS construct validity was assessed as a secondary analysis of data from 63 healthy participants without antiemetic treatment in a clinical trial (Unique Identifier = NCT03772340) conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Tradipitant—a novel neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist—in the treatment of motion sickness. Clinical outcome assessments included the MSSS, the Patient Global Impression of Severity (PGI-S), and the Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire (MSAQ). The performance of the MSSS through Pearson correlation coefficients, within-group analysis of variance, empirical cumulative distribution functions, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. Results The MSSS correlated very highly with the PGI-S (r = 0.93, p-value<0.0001) and highly with the MSAQ (r = 0.83, p-value<0.0001). Mean MSSS scores between increasing PGI-S severity levels increased significantly in all four increments (None-to-Mild: p-value = 0.006, Mild-to-Moderate: p-value<0.0001, Moderate-to-Severe: p-value = 0.006, Severe-to-Very-Severe: p-value = 0.002). There were statistically significant differences in MSSS score distributions stratified by PGI-S severity level, with higher MSSS scores associated with higher PGI-S severity levels and lower MSSS scores associated with lower PGI-S severity levels. Discussion The MSSS is a valid instrument for the assessment of the core motion sickness symptoms and is reflective of global disease severity. Implementation of the MSSS and comparable simplified, short questionnaires in motion sickness research will provide rapid and accurate measures of disease severity. These measures will enable further elucidation of motion sickness as an illness and inform the development and evaluation of motion sickness therapies.
Characterisation of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activity in sea turtle Chelonia mydas

Abstract Uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes conjugate many lipophilic chemicals, such as drugs, environmental contaminants, and endogenous compounds, promoting their excretion. The complexity of UGT kinetics, and the location of enzyme active site in endoplasmic reticulum lumen, requires an accurate optimisation of enzyme assays. In the present study, we characterised UGT activity in liver microsomes of green turtles (Chelonia mydas), an endangered species. The conditions for measuring UGT activity were standardised through spectrofluorimetric methods, using the substrates 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU) and uridine diphosphate glucuronic acid (UDPGA) at 30 °C and pH 7.4. The green turtles showed UGT activity at the saturating concentrations of substrates of 250 µM to 4-MU and 7 mM to UDPGA. The alamethicin, Brij®58, bovine serum albumin (BSA), and magnesium increased UGT activity. The assay using alamethicin (22 µg per mg of protein), magnesium (1 mM), and BSA (0.25%) reached the highest V max (1203 pmol·min−1mg·protein−1). Lithocholic acid and diclofenac inhibited UGT activity in green turtles. This study is the first report of UGT activity in the liver of green turtles and provides a base for future studies to understand the mechanisms of toxicity by exposure to contaminants in this charismatic species.
Impact of climate events, pollution, and green spaces on mental health: an umbrella review of meta-analyses

Abstract Climate change may affect mental health. We conducted an umbrella review of meta-analyses examining the association between mental health and climate events related to climate change, pollution and green spaces. We searched major bibliographic databases and included meta-analyses with at least five primary studies. Results were summarized narratively. We included 24 meta-analyses on mental health and climate events (n = 13), pollution (n = 11), and green spaces (n = 2) (two meta-analyses provided data on two categories). The quality was suboptimal. According to AMSTAR-2, the overall confidence in the results was high for none of the studies, for three it was moderate, and for the other studies the confidence was low to critically low. The meta-analyses on climate events suggested an increased prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety associated with the exposure to various types of climate events, although the effect sizes differed considerably across study and not all were significant. The meta-analyses on pollution suggested that there may be a small but significant association between PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO and mental health, especially depression and suicide, as well as autism spectrum disorders after exposure during pregnancy, but the resulting effect sizes varied considerably. Serious methodological flaws make it difficult to draw credible conclusions. We found reasonable evidence for an association between climate events and mental health and some evidence for an association between pollution and mental disorders. More high-quality research is needed to verify these associations.
Ionization Nebulae Surrounding CAL 83 and Other Supersoft X-ray Sources

We present the results of an optical search for ionized gaseous nebulae surrounding luminous, "supersoft" X-ray sources in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. This relatively new and mysterious X-ray class has characteristic luminosities approximately 10(exp 37) - 10(exp 38) ergs/s with effective temperatures in the range of 2 - 6 x 10(exp 5) K. The presence of a large flux of UV and soft X-ray photons from these objects has led to predictions of bright optical emission lines from the local interstellar medium. One such object, CAL 83 in the LMC, was known to have an associated nebula, and we quantify here the asymmetry and luminosity of this remarkable nebula. Deep images were made using narrowband filters to isolate the emission lines of H.alpha and [O III] (lamda5007). In these emission lines, the nebula is detected out to distances as far as 25 pc from the central object, and the integrated luminosity in each line is of order approximately 100 solar luminosity. Model calculations of such nebulae for chemical abundances characteristic of the LMC indicate that approximately 1% of the X-ray luminosity of the central source is reprocessed into the nebular H.alpha and [O III] lamda5007 emission lines, from which we conclude that the time-averaged X-ray luminosity of the central source, CAL 83, is greater than 3 x 10(exp 37) ergs/s. The bright inner nebula contains approximately 150 solar mass within 7.5 pc of CAL 83, which clearly indicates that the nebular material has its origin in the interstellar medium. In sharp contrast, there were null detections for nebulae associated with nine other luminous, supersoft X-ray sources in the LMC and SMC, with upper limits for the [O III] luminosity that are a factor of approximately 10 below that for CAL 83. For eight of these latter sources, we conclude that either their time-averaged luminosity is substantially below that of CAL 83, or that the local interstellar medium is much less dense. The latter effect may be enhanced by expansion of the ionized nebula during the last several million years.
Clinical significance of prognostic nutritional index in myelodysplastic syndrome

ABSTRACT Background Prognostic nutritional index has been found to be related to the clinical outcomes of patients with cancer. However, its role in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients is unclear. We aimed to assess the value of nutritional status in predicting the prognosis of MDS patients. Methods Totally 121 MDS patients were analyzed retrospectively. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) was used to assess nutritional status of the patients. The bio-informatics tool X-tile was used to define the threshold, and accordingly patients were divided into PNIlow and PNIhigh groups, the characteristics were compared between two groups. Results The PNIhigh was associated with better OS (Overall Survival) than PNIlow in MDS patients (Median OS, 28.03 months versus 19.63 months, P = 0.0205). But there were no statistical differences in PFS (Progression-Free-Survival) between the two groups (P = 0.9373). The univariable and multivariable COX proportional hazard analysis adjusted for age, gender, platelet count, HB level and IPSS-R scores, and the results showed that PNI is a useful index in the evaluation of the OS of MDS (HR 0.588, 95%CI 0.374–0.926, P = 0.024). Conclusion PNI would be a simple and immediately available tool for predicting the prognosis of MDS.
The preoperative plasma histamine level as a possible protective biomarker for postoperative acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a life-threatening complication of acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) patients. Increasing evidence suggests that histamine ameliorates the pathology of renal injury. However, data on the association between histamine levels and postoperative AKI in ATAAD patients are limited. The purpose of our study was to explore the incidence and independent risk factors of postoperative AKI, with special emphasis on the relationship between preoperative plasma histamine levels and the severity of postoperative ATAAD-AKI. This retrospective single-center study evaluated 160 patients with ATAAD admitted to the Beijing Anzhen Hospital aortic surgery database between April 2020 and December 2021. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the potential risk factors for postoperative ATAAD-AKI. A subgroup analysis was performed to investigate the association between preoperative plasma histamine levels and the severity of postoperative ATAAD-AKI or continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). ATAAD-AKI occurred in 84 of 160 patients (52.5%), including 32 with stage 1 (38.1%), 14 with stage 2 (16.7%), 38 with stage 3 (45.2%), and 34 (21.3%) received postoperative CRRT. The in-hospital mortality rate was 19.0% (16/84) in the AKI group and 2.6% (2/76) in the non-AKI group (P = .02). Preoperative lower plasma histamine levels (odds ratio [OR], 1.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10–1.52; P = .004) were an important factor related to postoperative ATAAD-AKI in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Subgroup analysis revealed that low preoperative plasma histamine level was independently associated with postoperative ATAAD-AKI (stage 3) (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.10–1.73; P = .005) and CRRT (OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.13–1.79; P = .008). Low preoperative plasma histamine level was an independent prognostic indicator of postoperative AKI in patients with ATAAD, especially for postoperative AKI (stage 3) and CRRT. Preoperative plasma histamine levels may serve as potential protective biomarkers of postoperative ATAAD-AKI.
Where past meets present: Indigenous vaccine hesitancy in Saskatchewan

In Canada, colonisation, both historic and ongoing, increases Indigenous vaccine hesitancy and the threat posed by infectious diseases. This research investigated Indigenous vaccine hesitancy in a First Nation community in Saskatchewan, ways it can be overcome, and the influence of a colonial history as well as modernity. Research followed Indigenous research methodologies, a community-based participatory research design, and used mixed methods. Social media posts (interventions) were piloted on a community Facebook page in January and February (2022). These interventions tested different messaging techniques in a search for effective strategies. The analysis that followed compared the number of likes and views of the different techniques to each other, a control post, and community-developed posts implemented by the community’s pandemic response team. At the end of the research, a sharing circle occurred and was followed by culturally appropriate data analysis (Nanâtawihowin Âcimowina Kika-Môsahkinikêhk Papiskîci-Itascikêwin Astâcikowina procedure). Results demonstrated the importance of exploring an Indigenous community’s self-determined solution, at the very least, alongside the exploration of external solutions. Further, some sources of vaccine hesitancy, such as cultural barriers, can also be used to promote vaccine confidence. When attempting to overcome barriers, empathy is crucial as vaccine fears exist, and antivaccine groups are prepared to take advantage of empathetic failures. Additionally, the wider community has a powerful influence on vaccine confidence. Messaging, therefore, should avoid polarising vaccine-confident and vaccine-hesitant people to the point where the benefits of community influence are limited. Finally, you need to understand people and their beliefs to understand how to overcome hesitancy. To gain this understanding, there is no substitute for listening.
Fascicular ventricular tachycardia arising from the left side His and its adjacent region: a subset of upper septal idiopathic left ventricular tachycardia

Abstract Aims Fascicular ventricle tachycardia (FVT) arising from the proximal aspect of left His-Purkinje system (HPS) has not been specially addressed. Current study was to investigate its clinical, electrocardiographic, and electrophysiological characteristics. Methods and results Eighteen patients who were identified as this rare FVT were consecutively enrolled, and their scalar electrocardiogram and electrophysiological data were collected and analysed. The ventricular tachycardia (VT) morphology was similar to sinus rhythm (SR) in eight patients, left bundle branch block type in one patient, right bundle branch block type in seven patients, and both narrow and wide QRS type in two patients. During VT, right-sided His potential preceded the QRS with His-ventricle (H-V) interval of 36.3 ± 12.4 ms, which was shorter than that during SR (−51.4 ± 8.6 ms) (P = 0.002). The earliest Purkinje potentials (PPs) were recorded within 7 ± 3 mm of left-side His and preceded the QRS by 49.1 ± 14.0 ms. Mapping along the left anterior fascicle and left posterior fascicle revealed an antegrade activation sequence in all with no P1 potentials recorded. In the two patients with two VT morphologies, the earliest PP was documented at the same site, and the activation sequence of HPS remained antegrade. Ablation at the earliest PP successfully eliminated the tachycardia, except one patient who developed complete atrial-ventricular block and two patients who abandoned ablations. After at least 12 months follow-up, 15 patients were free from any recurrences. Conclusions Fascicular ventricle tachycardia arising from the proximal aspect of left HPS was featured by recording slightly shorter H-V interval and absence of P1 potentials. Termination of VT requires ablation at the left-sided His or its adjacent region.
Psychometric properties of the client-centred rehabilitation questionnaire-is derived from a large and varied group of rehabilitation users

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to inspect and establish the factor structure of the Icelandic Client-Centred Rehabilitation Questionnaire [CCRQ-is] and investigate the service experiences of a large and varied sample of rehabilitation users. Materials and methods Altogether 499 rehabilitation users completed the questionnaire. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis was conducted for analysis of items. Mann-Whitney’s U and Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare subscale responses based on participants’ characteristics. Results Four factors explained 53,2% of the variance: Respect and attentiveness, Interaction with significant others, Responsiveness to needs and preferences and Education and enablement. Subscales showed internal consistency from 0.72–0.91 and 0.92 for the whole instrument. The subscale Respect and attentiveness represented user centred rehabilitation the most and Interaction with significant others the least. Significant differences in relation to health conditions and age were obtained on all four subscales and differences by gender on one subscale. Conclusions Our results suggest the CCRQ-is is a reliable tool that can be used with rehabilitation users with a broad range of characteristics within the Icelandic context. The extent to which the intersection of age, gender and health issues influence users’ perception of services needs to be further scrutinized. Implications for Rehabilitation Increasingly users of rehabilitation have complex and composite health issues as physical and mental health conditions commonly co-exist. The four subscale Client-Centred Rehabilitation Questionnaire [CCRQ-is] demonstrated strong reliability for assessing the client-centredness of rehabilitation services for people with different health issues in Iceland. People receiving rehabilitation for mental health reasons seem to find the service to be less client-centred than other rehabilitation service users. The lowest scores on the CCRQ-is were consistently found on the dimension Interaction with significant others. The key role often played by families during and after the rehabilitation process should be recognized.
Getting a handle on rat familiarization: The impact of handling protocols on classic tests of stress in Rattus norvegicus

Experimenter familiarization with laboratory rodents through handling prior to experimentation is an important practice in neurobehavioral research and is implicated in stress, study variability, and replicability. Unfortunately, different handling protocols have not been thoroughly examined. Determining optimal experimenter familiarization protocols is expected to reduce animal stress and thus improve welfare and data consistency. The impact of different handling protocols was determined through behavioral assessments (i.e. elevated plus maze, light/dark box, open field) as well as via analysis of fecal boli counts, ultrasonic vocalizations, and blood corticosterone. Male and female Sprague Dawley rats were distributed among three groups: never handled, picked-up, and handled for 5 min once daily over five days. Handled and picked-up rats spent more time in open arms and less time in closed arms of the elevated plus maze and more time in the center and less time at the perimeter of the open field compared to rats that were never handled, indicating that handled and picked-up rats were less anxious than those that were never handled. Male rats consistently defecated more frequently throughout the handling process and throughout behavioral testing, whereas females showed greater concentrations of blood corticosterone. Female rats were found to emit more 50-kHz calls and fewer 22-kHz calls compared to males. The results observed suggest that picking animals up may suffice as a handling method compared to time-intensive handling procedures, and that there are significant sex differences in response to handling.