Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Desenvolvimento e validação de um questionário de avaliação da atividade física para adolescentes

OBJETIVO: Desenvolver um questionario de atividade fisica para adolescentes brasileiros e verificar sua validade e reprodutibilidade. METODOS: Participaram do estudo 94 adolescentes (30 meninos e 64 meninas) com idade entre 11 a 16 anos, em 2004. O questionario foi composto por 17 questoes sobre atividades habituais exercidas nos ultimos 12 meses (exercicios fisicos/esportes e atividades de locomocao) e foi padronizado para gerar escores semanal e anual. Como metodo de referencia utilizou-se o teste de corrida vai-e-vem de 20 metros com as variaveis tempo em minutos, velocidade maxima em km/h, consumo maximo de oxigenio e frequencia cardiaca maxima. Para a analise de validacao, foram utilizados o coeficiente de Spearman e correlacao ajustada por idade. Para a analise da reprodutibilidade, utilizou-se medida repetida com intervalo de 15 dias e coeficiente de correlacao intraclasse. RESULTADOS: Para o escore semanal de atividade fisica, os maiores coeficientes de correlacao foram obtidos com o tempo total para a analise em conjunto (r=0,19), velocidade total para os meninos (r=0,20), e consumo maximo de oxigenio e tempo total para as meninas (r=0,17). Para o escore anual de atividade fisica, os maiores coeficientes de correlacao foram obtidos com o tempo total para a analise em conjunto (r=0,30), frequencia cardiaca final apos o ajuste pela idade para os meninos (r=0,22) e tempo total para as meninas (r=0,23). Nas analises de reprodutibilidade, a correlacao do escore semanal foi de 0,61 e a do escore anual foi de 0,68. CONCLUSOES: O questionario apresentou evidencias de validade e reprodutibilidade. Recomenda-se sua utilizacao para avaliacao da atividade fisica habitual em estudos epidemiologicos com adolescentes.
308 nm MONOCHROMATIC EXCIMER LIGHT IN PSORIASIS: CLINICAL EVALUATION AND STUDY OF CYTOKINE LEVELS IN THE SKIN

Ultraviolet light (UVB, 290-320 nm), and in particular light at 308-311 nm, represents an effective therapeutic modality for psoriasis and other immunomediated skin disorders. In fact, its therapeutic mechanism has been attributed to immunosuppressive properties in the skin. Alterations that affect cytokine network related to the abnormal level and activities of T limphocytes in the altered skin, are considered fundamental today in the pathogenesis of the disease. The aim of our study is to evaluate clinical aspects and cytokine levels in the skin before and after treatment with a 308-nm Monochromatic Excimer Light (Excilite DEKA - Florence - Italy) in psoriatic patients. At 3-month follow-up clearance of treated lesions is still evident.
The relationship of solar-stimulated natural fluorescence and primary productivity in Mexican Pacific waters

Solar-stimulated natural chlorophyll a fluorescence measured by upwelling radiance in the red spectral band could be a fast and noninvasivc method to estimate primary production in aquatic environments if the relationship of primary production to natural fluorescence can be described as a function of easily measured environmental variables, We compared data of natural fluorescence and primary production (14C incubation for 2 h) from the California Current and the Gulf of California. The data confirm that the quantum yield ratio of fluorescence to primary production (4, : $f) is a function of in situ irradiance, but not of nutrient concentration or temperature, as has been reported in the literature. Published data from the subtropics and tropics and our data yield empirical constants that define the irradiance function of the quantum yield ratio, but variability results from ambiguity of the constant determination caused by high variance of the data. Data from the Antarctic are significantly different from the low latitude data. Below a photosynthetic rate of 300 nmol C m-3 s-l, our natural fluorescence data arc useful as a proxy of primary production with a correlation coefficient, r*, of 0.85. Of the unexplained variance (15%), a major portion is due to the C.V. of the primary production method (9.2%). The r2 value of predicted primary production is similar to other published results, which suggests that without further information about the physiology of the phytoplankton it will be difficult to improve the quality of the primary production estimate.
Relationship of physical fitness vs body mass Index with coronary artery disease and cardiovascular events in women

ContextIndividual contributions of obesity and physical fitness (physical activity and functional capacity) to risk of coronary heart disease in women remain unclear.ObjectiveTo investigate the relationships of measures of obesity (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, and waist-height ratio) and physical fitness (self-reported Duke Activity Status Index [DASI] and Postmenopausal Estrogen-Progestin Intervention questionnaire [PEPI-Q] scores) with coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors, angiographic CAD, and adverse cardiovascular (CV) events in women evaluated for suspected myocardial ischemia.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThe National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute–sponsored Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) is a multicenter prospective cohort study. From 1996-2000, 936 women were enrolled at 4 US academic medical centers at the time of clinically indicated coronary angiography and then assessed (mean follow-up, 3.9 [SD, 1.8] years) for adverse outcomes.Main Outcome MeasuresPrevalence of obstructive CAD (any angiographic stenosis ≥50%) and incidence of adverse CV events (all-cause death or hospitalization for nonfatal myocardial infarction, stroke, congestive heart failure, unstable angina, or other vascular events) during follow-up.ResultsOf 906 women (mean age, 58 [SD, 12] years) with complete data, 19% were of nonwhite race, 76% were overweight (BMI ≥25), 70% had low functional capacity (DASI scores <25, equivalent to ≤7 metabolic equivalents [METs]), and 39% had obstructive CAD. During follow-up, 337 (38%) women had a first adverse event, 118 (13%) had a major adverse event, and 68 (8%) died. Overweight women were more likely than normal weight women to have CAD risk factors, but neither BMI nor abdominal obesity measures were significantly associated with obstructive CAD or adverse CV events after adjusting for other risk factors (P = .05 to .88). Conversely, women with lower DASI scores were significantly more likely to have CAD risk factors and obstructive CAD (44% vs 26%, P<.001) at baseline, and each 1-MET increase in DASI score was independently associated with an 8% (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.85-0.99; P = .02) decrease in risk of major adverse CV events during follow-up.ConclusionsAmong women undergoing coronary angiography for suspected ischemia, higher self-reported physical fitness scores were independently associated with fewer CAD risk factors, less angiographic CAD, and lower risk for adverse CV events. Measures of obesity were not independently associated with these outcomes.
Between dream and sleep: Towards evidence based nursing care for sleep problems

This study aims at acquiring knowledge about the quality of sleep of adult and elderly psychiatric patients who receive clinical or outpatient nursing care, and identifying key factors in perceiving a sleep problem. To do so, a sample of 1699 psychiatric patients was asked whether they perceived a sleep problem and were invited to fill in the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and additional questions. Five hundred and sixty (33%) questionnaires were returned. As a result, we found that 36% of the patients perceived a sleep problem, while the PSQI assessed 66% of the sample as being 'bad sleepers'. Forty-nine per cent of the respondents used sleep medication one or more times a week. Five items of the PSQI were shown to be predictors of a perceived sleep problem. Four of these are insomnia symptoms, while the fifth is the use of sleep medication. Moreover, the patients who used sleep medication most scored significantly worse on all PSQI components than patients who used sleep medication less than once a week. In conclusion, many psychiatric patients perceive a sleep problem and all nurses could be confronted not only with the night-time consequences of this, but also with daytime consequences. Therefore, sleep problems must not be viewed as an isolated problem but must be seen in relation with social functioning.
Income inequality measures

The Gini coefficient has been the most popular method for operationalising income inequality in the public health literature. However, a number of alternative methods exist, and they offer researchers the means to develop a more nuanced understanding of the distribution of income. Income inequality measures such as the generalised entropy index and the Atkinson index offer the ability to examine the effects of inequalities in different areas of the income spectrum, enabling more meaningful quantitative assessments of qualitatively different inequalities. This glossary provides a conceptual introduction to these and other income inequality measures.
Mental Health Reform in Ireland: Social Workers' Perceptions of Progress

Social workers who practice in the field of adult mental health in Ireland are a distinct group of practitioners. They are directly involved in both the successes and failures in the constantly changing environment of mental health policy and services. With recent efforts to reform mental health care in Ireland, using a recovery paradigm, social workers have been the focus of many of the expectations for change. This article refers to surveys done in 2002 and 2003 as a baseline and then presents the results of a recent survey June 2010 of adult mental health social workers to determine what they perceive as specific improvements in the system of mental health care and what they perceive as areas for further improvement.
Barries to parental involvement in primary schools: a case of Central North Region of Botswana

Research in Botswana has shown the importance of parental involvement in primary school education. Consequently, researchers have argued for strengthening the school-community relationship in order to improve the quality of primary school programmes and enable children to succeed in the academic environment. Nonetheless, little has been done to identify barriers to parental involvement in children's academic work and possible solutions geared towards quality education. This study therefore seeks to investigate the causes of limited parental involvement in their children's schooling and to identify strategies to help minimise these barriers and improve academic performances in primary schools. This study is a qualitative case study wherein twenty-four participants (twelve teachers and twelve parents) are interviewed. The sample was drawn from the Central North region of Botswana and covered remote, remotest, sub-urban, and urban locations. Random sampling was used to select teacher-participants while parents were identified with help of village headmen. Botswana education policies and school regulation or guideline handbooks were also examined to determine the extent to which these documents promote community involvement. The findings of this study reveal significant divergences in the responses of parents and teachers. Most of the parents, especially those in remote areas, for example indicated that they were not aware that they were supposed to offer teaching assistance services in schools. Teachers in the same areas indicated that parents were not cooperative in contributing to their children's learning. Likewise, while teachers listed examples of workshop initiatives designed to sensitise parents to the importance of being involved in their children's learning, parents said they were only called to collect children's progress reports, for Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meetings, or to be threatened about failure to pay school development and sports fees.
A Major Chronic Disease: Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence -

The aim of this paper is to draw attention to obesity in adolescence and its potential risks and put forward its consequences in terms of public health as well as offer solutions. Today, obesity has become one of the most frequent chronic diseases of childhood. The tendency to obesity is at an alarming level and the annual increase in this age group is gradually rising. In the 2003 report of the International Obesity Commission, it was stated that one out of ten children aged between 5-17 worldwide was overweight or obese. In addition to social and psychological problems resulting from obesity, it is known to be closely related with very serious diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. It is also known that obesity shortens life expectancy and that the process starts in the childhood period of many obese adults. Struggling with obesity actually means struggling with many other diseases. It is also of major significance for the future of our country to struggle with especially childhood obesity. In terms of public health, it is of primary importance to detect, avoid and cure obesity in this period.
GST polymorphic status modifying the arsenic induced clinical manifestations in people of the southern part of West Bengal, India

Persons chronically exposed to environmental arsenic through their drinking water experience various arsenic induced clinical manifestations which includes keratosis and pigmentary changes in the skin. However the response varies widely among persons. To study whether Glutathione-S-Transferase (GST) gene polymorphism plays any role in this variation, a total of 78 study subjects were recruited from the villages of southern region of West Bengal, India. Concentration of arsenic in their urine and drinking water were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry Hydride Generation (AAS) system. Extent of clinical manifestations in the form of pigmentation and keratosis were determined by evaluation of the severity and giving clinical symptom score according to their degree of severity. The individual’s GST status was determined by multiplex PCR approach. The persons having skin manifestation given a score called clinical symptom score by which the degree of the clinical manifestation was determined. Results showed that genetic polymorphism of GSTM1 and T1 were significantly associated with urinary arsenic and clinical manifestation in higher exposure group. Persons having null genotype have significantly decreased urinary arsenic (p< 0.01) and increased clinical symptom (p<0.05) score relative to persons with GSTM1 or GST T1 non-null genotype of same arsenic exposure group. The study signifies that GST status determines the extent of biotransformation of arsenic in the body which further determines the degree of arsenic induced clinical manifestations in exposed persons. Key words: Arsenic, GST polymorphism, total urinary arsenic, clinical symptom score.
An investigation of the effectiveness of nutritional education, physical fitness, and cognitive-behavioral therapy on 9 to 11 year old girls' self-concept, body image, and physical activity

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Despite the negative physical, psychological, social, academic, and financial effects of childhood obesity, few programs have been implemented successfully to address this burgeoning problem. The effects of a three-component intervention model, Life Fit, were examined. Participants included three 9 to 10 year old females who were overweight. The 10 week intervention consisted of two 2 hour sessions per week which included the following components: nutritional education, physical fitness, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. This research was conducted as a single case study AB design. Data was collected on each of the following variables: nutritional measures (self-reported servings of fruits and vegetables and number of servings of sweetened beverages and sodas), physical fitness (cardiorespiratory endurance, upper body muscular strength and abdominal strength), anthropometric measure (BMI), physical activity levels (average daily pedometer counts), sedentary activity levels (number of self-reported hours in specific sedentary activities), self-concept (Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale (MSCS; Bracken, 1992), and body image (The Body Esteem Scale for Children (Mendelson & White, 1994). Data were interpreted using a visual inspection of graphed outcomes. Results revealed that participants improved their upper body endurance and cardiorespiratory fitness. All participants maintained their pre-intervention BMI. There were no improvements noted in the other measures. Limitations and implications for future research will be discussed in the paper.
A subjective memory assessment questionnaire for use with elderly people after stroke

The aim of this study was to develop a subjective memory questionnaire for use with elderly people after stroke. A 13-item questionnaire was devised using items identified by 10 stroke patients and taken from existing memory questionnaires. It was tested on 50 elderly stroke patients and 50 elderly control subjects. Validation was carried out using the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT) and a significant positive correlation was obtained (r= 0.71 ; p <0.001). The correlation between the subjective rating for the normal elderly subjects and the RBMT was not significant. It was concluded that the questionnaire is valid for use with elderly people after stroke but not for normal elderly subjects. The reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.
Assessment of changes in arterial compliance by photoplethysmography

Many medications have constrictive or dilatory influences on blood vessels; they can influence either big or small vessels, but the available non-invasive methods for the assessment of blood flow or blood vessels compliance are not appropriate for microcirculation. We have previously used photoplethysmography (PPG) for the measurement of light absorption changes in the tissue, for the assessment of blood volume changes in the tissue and in the current study the PPG signal is used for the evaluation of changes in several hemodynamic parameters during epiduraI anesthesia. The sympathetic block which accompanies epidural anesthetic treatment results in pain relief since the sympathetic nerve fibers mediate the pain sense. The sympathetic nervous system is also associated with active constriction of the blood vessels, so that after the sympathetic block the arterioles are dilated.
Psychodynamic interpersonal therapy by inexperienced therapists in a naturalistic setting: a pilot study

Background This pilot study examined the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial of brief psychodynamic interpersonal (PI) therapy, carried out by inexperienced psychiatry trainees, in a secondary care psychotherapy setting with NHS psychotherapy patients waiting for a brief therapy intervention. Method Patients were randomized to receive twelve weeks' PI therapy immediately or to remain as waiting-list controls for that period, following which they received twelve weeks' PI therapy. Results Fifty-four patients entered the study, of whom thirty-three completed therapy. The data were analysed in two ways. First, significant improvement was demonstrated in those patients who completed therapy. Second, the comparison between twenty-four patients randomized to treatment and twenty-two waiting-list controls showed a non-significant trend towards greater improvement in the immediate treatment group. Conclusions The study implementation was feasible in a service setting. This study provides preliminary evidence that treatment by inexperienced therapists may be effective and that the majority of patients can be engaged in therapy. However, high attrition rates were found between waiting list and completion of therapy, and patients with a history of abuse in childhood were particularly difficult for trainees to engage in brief therapy. A definitive study with adequate power confidently to detect differences of this magnitude would require sample sizes of approximately 121 in each comparison group.
Medication safety in older inpatients: Measurement and intervention strategies

Older patients (65 years and older) experience far more adverse drug events (ADEs) compared with younger adults. Appropriate prescribing and recognition of ADEs in older inpatients is challenging endeavor because of often present polypharmacy, multimorbidity, and impaired cognitive and physical functions. The main objectives of this thesis were to determine medication safety in older inpatients by measuring ADEs, to develop and implement a multifaceted intervention strategy (MFIS), and to investigate the effect of this strategy on preventable ADEs and ADE recognition in older inpatients. In total 118 ADEs were identified in 250 included older inpatients (65 years and older and taking ≥ 5 medications on admission). Of the 118 ADEs, 71% was preventable and 43% caused serious preventable patient harm. Most preventable ADEs (86%) were ADEs caused by prescribing errors. Furthermore, of the ADEs already present upon hospital admission 20% was not recognized by the medical teams, and 20% of ADEs occurring during the hospital stay was also missed. The implementation of MFIS in three Dutch hospitals resulted in 51% reduction in the rate of preventable ADEs (pADEs) occurring during the hospital stay (P < 0.001), 63% reduction in the rate of serious pADEs (P < 0.001), and 52% reduction in the rate of unrecognized ADEs (P < 0.001). All rates were calculated per 100 hospitalizations. The MFIS consisted of a comprehensive medication review followed by face-to-face feedback on prescribing by hospital pharmacists, geriatric pharmacotherapy education, and a pocket-sized checklist of drug-related problems for internal medicine residents.
Electrocardiographic assessment of hyperkalemia in dogs and cats

Objective: To demonstrate whether ECG changes induced by hyperkalemia correspond with previously described changes. Design: Prospective Animals: Eighteen dogs and 22 cats with serum potassium levels >5.5 mEq/L as the result of various disease processes. Procedure: Once hyperkalemia was documented, the following data were collected: ECG (n=40), total magnesium (mg/dl) (n=18), total calcium (mg/dl) (n=31), and venous blood gas (n=20). Animals were divided into 5 groups based on expected ECG's changes associated with hyperkalemia (mEq/L): Group 1- 5.5–6.5; Group 2- 6.6–7.0; Group 3- 7.1–8.5; Group 4- 8.6–10.0; Group 5- >10.0. ECG's were interpreted to determine if the rate, rhythm and changes in the P-QRS-T complex were similar to those previously reported. Results: Twelve ECGs demonstrated changes previously described, while 28 did not: Group 1 (n=7)- 1/7; Group 2 (n=2)- 0/2; Group 3 (n=14)- 4/14; Group 4 (n=6)- 3/6; Group 5 (n=11)- 4/11. Many ECG abnormalities not previously described were also identified such as atrioventricular dissociation and ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Blood gas analysis revealed acidemia (19/20) with severe acidemia (pH<7.2) in the majority (16/19). Hypocalcemia was documented (5/13) and most of these patents (4/5) were in Group 5. Hypermagnesemia was documented in the majority of patients (10/18), though not in one particular group. Clinical Implications: It is difficult to establish typical ECG changes in patients with hyperkalemia, which represents a departure from the historical description. Hypocalcemia may be involved with ECG changes and arrhythmias in Group 5. Hypermagnesemia causes electrocardiographic abnormalities similar to those described with hyperkalemia and therefore does not explain the results of this study. There likely are complex interactions with electrolytes and acid base abnormalities that affect ECG formation.