Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knowledge, attitude and practices toward pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reactions in postgraduate students of Tertiary Care Hospital in Gujarat

Being key health care professional, physicians, pharmacist and nurses have immense responsibility in reporting adverse drug reaction (ADR). Therefore, the study objective was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) toward pharmacovigilance and ADRs of postgraduate students of our institute. A cross-sectional questionnaires based study was carried out in postgraduate students of the clinical department at tertiary care hospital attached with Govt. Medical College, Vadodara, Gujarat (India). A total of 22 questionnaires about KAP toward ADRs and pharmacovigilance were developed and peer viewed of all questionnaires by expert faculties from our institute. We were contacted directly to postgraduate students of respective clinical department; questionnaires were distributed and taken back after 30 min. The filled KAP questionnaires were analyzed in question wise and their percentage value was calculated by using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Postgraduate residents (n = 101) from different clinical departments were enrolled in the study. Average 34.83% correct and 64.08% incorrect knowledge about ADRs and pharmacovigilance and an average 90.76% students were agreed to reporting ADRs is necessary, mandatory and increased patient′s safety. Only 7.92% of postgraduate doctors were reported ADR at institute or ADR reporting center. We concluded that postgraduate students have a better attitude toward reporting ADRs, but have lack of knowledge and poor practices of ADRs. The majority of postgraduate students were felt ADR reporting and monitoring is very important, but few had ever reported ADRs because of lack of sensitization and knowledge of pharmacovigilance and ADR.
O fim da comida: suplementação alimentar e alimentação entre frequentadores assíduos de academias de musculação e fitness do Rio de Janeiro

The article addresses the particular diet of a group of avid members of workout and fitness centers in Rio de Janeiro. It shows how diet is related to keeping in shape and to the prevailing type of sociability. Using direct and participatory ethnographic observation and open interviews, research was conducted at 12 fitness clubs on the North and South sides of Rio for three years. For the group under study, eating is about relying on a system of knowledge related to the science of nutrition for the benefit of managing one's physical shape and athletic performance. This movement produces the notion of food as a powerful chemical artifice that enhances the aesthetics of the body.
Avoiding transitional effects in Dynamic Circuit Specialisation on FPGAs

Dynamic Circuit Specialisation (DCS) is a technique that uses the reconfigurability of an FPGA to optimise a circuit during run-time, thus achieving higher performance and lower resource cost. However, run-time reconfiguration causes transitional effects that form an important problem for DCS. Because of these, the DCS circuit cannot be used while it is being reconfigured. This limits the usability of DCS for streaming applications and other applications that cannot tolerate downtime. For other applications, this results in a loss of performance. In this paper, we present a technique to perform partial reconfiguration for DCS without transitional effects, thus allowing the circuit to remain fully functional at all times. The proposed method performs DCS by reconfiguring only LookUp Tables of the FPGA and does not require changes to the configuration architecture of the FPGA. The approach was tested and evaluated on current Xilinx FPGAs.
Validity and Reliability of the US National Cancer Institute's Patient-Reported Outcomes Version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE).

IMPORTANCE To integrate the patient perspective into adverse event reporting, the National Cancer Institute developed a patient-reported outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE). OBJECTIVE To assess the construct validity, test-retest reliability, and responsiveness of PRO-CTCAE items. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 975 adults with cancer undergoing outpatient chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy enrolled in this questionnaire-based study between January 2011 and February 2012. Eligible participants could read English and had no clinically significant cognitive impairment. They completed PRO-CTCAE items on tablet computers in clinic waiting rooms at 9 US cancer centers and community oncology practices at 2 visits 1 to 6 weeks apart. A subset completed PRO-CTCAE items during an additional visit 1 business day after the first visit. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Primary comparators were clinician-reported Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG PS) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30). RESULTS A total of 940 of 975 (96.4%) and 852 of 940 (90.6%) participants completed PRO-CTCAE items at visits 1 and 2, respectively. At least 1 symptom was reported by 938 of 940 (99.8%) participants. Participants' median age was 59 years; 57.3% were female, 32.4% had a high school education or less, and 17.1% had an ECOG PS of 2 to 4. All PRO-CTCAE items had at least 1 correlation in the expected direction with a QLQ-C30 scale (111 of 124, P<.05 for all). Stronger correlations were seen between PRO-CTCAE items and conceptually related QLQ-C30 domains. Scores for 94 of 124 PRO-CTCAE items were higher in the ECOG PS 2 to 4 vs 0 to 1 group (58 of 124, P<.05 for all). Overall, 119 of 124 items met at least 1 construct validity criterion. Test-retest reliability was 0.7 or greater for 36 of 49 prespecified items (median [range] intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.76 [0.53-.96]). Correlations between PRO-CTCAE item changes and corresponding QLQ-C30 scale changes were statistically significant for 27 prespecified items (median [range] r=0.43 [0.10-.56]; all P≤.006). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Evidence demonstrates favorable validity, reliability, and responsiveness of PRO-CTCAE in a large, heterogeneous US sample of patients undergoing cancer treatment. Studies evaluating other measurement properties of PRO-CTCAE are under way to inform further development of PRO-CTCAE and its inclusion in cancer trials.
An innovative hybrid PWM technology for VSC in application of VSC-HVDC transmission system

This paper presents an innovative hybrid PWM technology, its corresponding structures and characteristics suitable for high voltage direct current transmission system based on voltage source converter (VSC-HVDC). The features of optimized PWM (OPWM) are presented and a new algorithm based on the theory of power sums for solving non-linear transcendental equations is introduced. The properties of 3rd harmonic injection SPWM are also presented. The working mechanism and configuration of the hybrid PWM are discussed in detail. The features of mode detector (the key building block) are also presented. A two terminals VSC-HVDC transmission system is simulated by the simulation software PSCAD/EMTDC linked to Matlab/Simulink, demonstrating the good performances of this new hybrid PWM technology. The theory analyses and simulation results show that this new hybrid PWM technology has great potentiality in the application of VSC-HVDC projects in future.
A study on transient response of digital PID control for DC-DC converter with weighted predictions of neural network

In this paper, a reference modification method for the PID control is studied to improve the transient response of the output voltage of the power converter using weighted prediction information with a neural network predictor. Several predictions of the output voltage with the neural network are used to obtain the modified reference value in the PID control by minimizing the objective function. The objective function uses weight factors which can represent how the predictions are treated. In this study, a buck type dc-dc converter is used as a test study to evaluate the presented method. The evaluation results show the presented method has a superior performance compared to the conventional PID control. It is confirmed that the presented method provides a function of prediction based approach, which is widely required in the field of renewable energy since the input-output relation of power conversion varies widely and dynamically.
Midlife hand grip strength as a predictor of old age disability.

CONTEXT Poor muscle strength, functional limitations, and disability often coexist, but whether muscle strength during midlife predicts old age functional ability is not known. OBJECTIVE To determine whether hand grip strength measured during midlife predicts old age functional limitations and disability in initially healthy men. DESIGN AND SETTING A 25-year prospective cohort study, the Honolulu Heart Program, which began in 1965 among Japanese-American men living on Oahu, Hawaii. PARTICIPANTS A total of 608945- to 68-year-old men who were healthy at baseline and whose maximal hand grip strength was measured from 1965 through 1970. Altogether, 2259 men died over the follow-up period and 3218 survivors participated in the disability assessment in 1991 through 1993. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Functional limitations including slow customary walking speed (< or =0.4 m/s) and inability to rise from a seated position without using the arms, and multiple self-reported upper extremity, mobility, and self-care disability outcomes. RESULTS After adjustment for multiple potential confounders, risk of functional limitations and disability 25 years later increased as baseline hand grip strength, divided into tertiles, declined. The odds ratio (OR) of walking speed of 0.4 m/s or slower was 2.87 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.76-4.67) in those in the lowest third and 1.79 (95% CI, 1.14-2.81) in the middle third of grip strength vs those in the highest third. The risk of self-care disability was more than 2 times greater in the lowest vs the highest grip strength tertile. Adding chronic conditions identified at follow-up to the models predicting disability reduced the ORs related to grip strength only minimally. CONCLUSIONS Among healthy 45- to 68-year-old men, hand grip strength was highly predictive of functional limitations and disability 25 years later. Good muscle strength in midlife may protect people from old age disability by providing a greater safety margin above the threshold of disability.
Finite state Markov modelling for high speed railway wireless communication channel

How to provide reliable, cost-effective wireless services for high-speed railway (HSR) users attracts increasing attention due to the fast deployment of HSRs worldwide. A key issue is to develop reasonably accurate and mathematically tractable models for HSR wireless communication channels. Finite-state Markov chains (FSMCs) have been extensively investigated to describe wireless channels. However, different from traditional wireless communication channels, HSR communication channels have the unique features such as very high speed, deterministic mobility pattern and frequent handoff events, which are not described by the existing FSMC models. In this paper, based on the Winner II physical layer channel model parameters, we propose a novel FSMC channel model for HSR communication systems, considering the path loss, fast fading and shadowing with high mobility. Extensive simulation results are given, which validate the accuracy of the proposed FSMC channel model. The model is not only ready for performance analysis, protocol design and optimization for HSR communication systems, but also provides an effective tool for faster HSR communication network simulation.
Ethnic minority professionals’ experiences with subtle discrimination in the workplace

This qualitative study aims to explore the processes underlying subtle discrimination in the workplace. Based on 26 in-depth interviews with minority professionals of Turkish or Maghrebi descent in Flanders, we argue that subtle discrimination in the workplace is characterized by three important elements. First, subtle discrimination is ambiguous, and often involves disempowerment through apparent empowering behavior. Second, subtle discrimination is based on processes of power — normalization, legitimization of only the individual, legitimization as the Other and naturalization — which subtly, through everyday incidents, disempower minority individuals. Third, subtle discrimination in the workplace is linked to societal structures and discourses, which permeate the workplace through, and are reproduced by, workplace encounters.
Paradoxical Effects of Fruit on Obesity

Obesity is exponentially increasing regardless of its preventable characteristics. The current measures for preventing obesity have failed to address the severity and prevalence of obesity, so alternative approaches based on nutritional and diet changes are attracting attention for the treatment of obesity. Fruit contains large amounts of simple sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose, etc.), which are well known to induce obesity. Thus, considering the amount of simple sugars found in fruit, it is reasonable to expect that their consumption should contribute to obesity rather than weight reduction. However, epidemiological research has consistently shown that most types of fruit have anti-obesity effects. Thus, due to their anti-obesity effects as well as their vitamin and mineral contents, health organizations are suggesting the consumption of fruit for weight reduction purposes. These contradictory characteristics of fruit with respect to human body weight management motivated us to study previous research to understand the contribution of different types of fruit to weight management. In this review article, we analyze and discuss the relationships between fruit and their anti-obesity effects based on numerous possible underlying mechanisms, and we conclude that each type of fruit has different effects on body weight.
An electromyographical study to investigate the effects of patellar taping on the vastus medialis/vastus lateralis ratio in asymptomatic participants

It is commonly theorised that patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is caused by maltracking due to vastus medialis (VM) weakness relative to the vastus lateralis (VL). Despite this being a controversial theory, patellar taping is a commonly used technique that purports to correct this muscle imbalance by increasing the VM/VL ratio. The effects of different forms of taping on vasti muscle activity are still not known. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of three different types of patellar taping on the VM/VL ratio in asymptomatic university students. Each participant performed a set of four single–legged squats under four separate taping conditions: A) medial, B) lateral, C) neutral, and D) no-tape. The condition sequence was randomised. The main outcome measure was the normalised VM/VL ratio, assessed by using surface electromyography. Secondary outcome measures were the normalised EMG activity of the VM and the VL. A convenience sample of 24 (17 females) students (22 ± 10 years, M ± SD) completed this study. The lateral taping condition produced small but significantly greater VM/VL ratios than the medial (p = 0.007) and neutral (p = 0.007) but not the no-tape (p = 0.123) condition. There were no significant differences between the medial, neutral, and no-tape conditions. These results question whether patellar taping can impart a clinically significant effect on the VM/VL ratio. The results of this study cannot be directly extrapolated to a patient population, and further research in the PFPS population is required before clinical recommendations can be made.
Early Events in Chikungunya Virus Infection—From Virus Cell Binding to Membrane Fusion

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a rapidly emerging mosquito-borne alphavirus causing millions of infections in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. CHIKV infection often leads to an acute self-limited febrile illness with debilitating myalgia and arthralgia. A potential long-term complication of CHIKV infection is severe joint pain, which can last for months to years. There are no vaccines or specific therapeutics available to prevent or treat infection. This review describes the critical steps in CHIKV cell entry. We summarize the latest studies on the virus-cell tropism, virus-receptor binding, internalization, membrane fusion and review the molecules and compounds that have been described to interfere with virus cell entry. The aim of the review is to give the reader a state-of-the-art overview on CHIKV cell entry and to provide an outlook on potential new avenues in CHIKV research.
The Deletion of the Bre 1 Gene in Aspergillus nidulans Impairs Mitotic Growth , Meiosis , and DNA Damage Repair

Bre1 is a homotetrameric E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase that heterodimerizes with Rad6, an E2 ubiquitinconjugating enzyme, in order to ubiquitinate lysine 123 in Aspergillus nidulans. This post-translational modification promotes methylation of lysines 4 and 79 on histone H3, which are required for certain damage repair pathways and for both optimal mitotic cell growth and meiosis [1-3, 12]. ΔBre1 mutants were generated by exposing protoplasts from strains auxotrophic for pyridoxine to a three-way fusion construct made from the Bre1 5’ and 3’ flanking regions and the Aspergillus fumigatus pyroA gene, which served as a selectable marker. Molecular diagnosis was confirmed via trans-locus PCR. Phenotypic analysis indicates that the loss of Bre1 increases sensitivity to DNA damage agents, decreases mitotic cell growth, and inhibits meiosis. The severe developmental defects of ΔBre1 mutants are consistent with the known roles of Bre1 as an upstream regulator of several important cellular functions. [excerpt]
Olfactory testing combined with dopamine transporter imaging as a method to detect prodromal Parkinson's disease

Objective Olfactory dysfunction is an early and common symptom in Parkinson disease (PD). Previously, the authors demonstrated that idiopathic olfactory dysfunction in first-degree relatives of PD patients is associated with an increased risk of developing PD within 2 years. The aim of the present study was to determine the value of combined olfactory testing and SPECT scanning in predicting future PD in the same population of relatives over a 5-year period. Methods In a cohort of 361 non-parkinsonian, non-demented first-degree relatives of PD patients, a combination of olfactory processing tasks was used to select groups of hyposmic (n=40) and normosmic (n=38) individuals for a 5-year clinical follow-up evaluation and sequential SPECT scanning, using a dopamine transporter ligand to assess nigrostriatal dopaminergic function at baseline and 5 years from baseline. A validated questionnaire, sensitive to the presence of parkinsonism, was used in the follow-up of the remaining 283 relatives. Results Five years from baseline, five out of the 40 hyposmic relatives fulfilled clinical diagnostic criteria for PD. None of the other 349 relatives available for follow-up developed PD. All hyposmic individuals developing PD had an abnormal baseline SPECT scan. Discussion In conclusion, idiopathic hyposmia in first-degree relatives of PD patients is associated with an increased risk of developing clinical PD of 12.5% over a 5-year period. The present data suggest that a two-step approach using olfactory testing followed by SPECT scanning in hyposmic individuals has a very high sensitivity and specificity in detecting PD. The usefulness of this two-step approach needs to be confirmed in larger populations.
Anatomic or Functional Evaluation as an Initial Test for Stable Coronary Artery Disease: A Propensity Score Analysis

Little data are available to compare the clinical implications of coronary angiography (CAG) or myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) as an initial evaluation for stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: From national health insurance claims data in South Korea, patients aged 18 y or older without a known history of CAD, who underwent CAG or MPI for the diagnosis of stable CAD between 2009 and 2013, were enrolled. Patients were divided into CAG (n = 117,134) and MPI (n = 19,932) groups. The primary endpoint, defined as a composite of all-cause death and myocardial infarction, was compared by a propensity score analysis between the 2 groups. Results: There was a significant increase (39%) in the annual rate of CAG from 23,985 in 2009–2010 to 33,373 in 2012–2013. However, a substantial reduction (41%) in the annual MPI rate was also noted from 6,389 in 2009–2010 to 3,790 in 2012–2013. During the follow-up period (median, 2.4 y; interquartile range, 1.5–3.5), coronary revascularization was more frequently performed in the CAG group (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] of CAG, 24.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 19.66–29.68; P < 0.001). However, the incidence of the primary endpoint was significantly higher in the CAG group (aHR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.17–1.36; P < 0.001). The individual endpoints of death (aHR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.06–1.25; P = 0.001) and myocardial infarction (aHR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.60–2.36; P < 0.001) were also higher in the CAG group. Conclusion: As an initial diagnostic test in patients with stable CAD, MPI is associated with a better clinical outcomes than CAG.
Maintained Sensitivity to EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in EGFR-Mutant Lung Cancer Recurring after Adjuvant Erlotinib or Gefitinib

Purpose: Given the unprecedented efficacy of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in advanced EGFR-mutant lung cancer, adjuvant TKI therapy is an appealing strategy. However, there are conflicting findings regarding the potential benefit of adjuvant EGFR-TKI in patients with lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations. To better understand these results, we studied the natural history of lung cancers which recurred despite adjuvant TKI. Experimental Design: Patients with recurrent EGFR-mutant lung cancer following adjuvant TKI were identified using an Institutional Review Board-approved mechanism. Recurrent cancer specimens were tested for resistance mutations. Sensitivity to retreatment with EGFR-TKI was evaluated. Results: Twenty-two patients with cancers harboring an EGFR sensitizing mutation received adjuvant erlotinib or gefitinib for a median of 17 months (range 1–37 months). T790M was more common in cancers which recurred while receiving TKI than in those which recurred after stopping TKI (67% vs. 0%, P = 0.011). Fourteen patients who developed recurrence after stopping EGFR-TKI were retreated, with a median time to progression of 10 months and radiographic response seen in 8 of 11 patients with evaluable disease (73%). Conclusions: Recurrence of EGFR-mutant lung cancer after stopping adjuvant TKI should not preclude a trial of TKI retreatment; a phase II trial of erlotinib in this setting is underway. Studies of adjuvant EGFR-TKI will underestimate the potential survival benefit of adjuvant TKI for patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancers if retreatment at recurrence is not given. Clin Cancer Res; 17(19); 6322–8. ©2011 AACR.
c-fos induction by heat, arsenite, and cadmium is mediated by a heat shock element in its promoter.

c-fos mRNA is induced by many types of noxious stimuli that are known to enhance transcription mediated by the heat shock element (HSE). Nonetheless, it has been accepted that the c-fos promoter does not contain an HSE. In this report, we revealed that the human and rodent c-fos promoters do contain HSEs which are highly responsive to heat, arsenite, and cadmium. These HSEs may play important roles in regulating c-fos expression in various pathological and physiological situations.