Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Phylogenetic Approach to Total Evaporative Water Loss in Mammals

Maintaining appropriate water balance is a constant challenge for terrestrial mammals, and this problem can be exacerbated in desiccating environments. It has been proposed that natural selection has provided desert-dwelling mammals physiological mechanisms to reduce rates of total evaporative water loss. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between total evaporative water loss and body mass in mammals by using a recent phylogenetic hypothesis. We compared total evaporative water loss in 80 species of arid-zone mammals to that in 56 species that inhabit mesic regions, ranging in size from 4 g to 3,500 kg, to test the hypothesis that mammals from arid environments have lower rates of total evaporative water loss than mammals from mesic environments once phylogeny is taken into account. We found that arid species had lower rates of total evaporative water loss than mesic species when using a dichotomous variable to describe habitat (arid or mesic). We also found that total evaporative water loss was negatively correlated with the average maximum and minimum environmental temperature as well as the maximum vapor pressure deficit of the environment. Annual precipitation and the variable Q (a measure of habitat aridity) were positively correlated with total evaporative water loss. These results support the hypothesis that desert-dwelling mammals have lower rates of total evaporative water loss than mesic species after controlling for body mass and evolutionary relatedness regardless of whether categorical or continuous variables are used to describe habitat.
Multiple Blood Meals in Anopheles darlingi (Diptera: Culicidae)

ABSTRACT: Anopheles darlingi is an important vector of human malaria in the Amazon. Adult females of this mosquito species require a blood meal to develop eggs, preferring humans to other blood sources. Although gonotrophic concordance has been described as the norm for An. darlingi, here we report An. darlingi female mosquitoes taking two or more blood meals within their first gonotrophic cycle. Only half of field-captured adult females fed one blood meal developed follicles to Christophers' stage V. This outcome is dependent on larval nutrition, as 88% of laboratory-raised well-nourished females completed the first gonotrophic cycle with only one blood meal, while less nourished females needed additional blood meals. Half of the field-captured blood-seeking An. darlingi females had follicles in intermediate (IIIa and IIIb) and final (V) stages of the gonotrophic cycle, supporting the conclusion that An. darlingi blood feed more than once during a gonotrophic cycle. Additionally, we observed females attempting to blood feed a second time during the same day. Additional studies of An. darlingi biting behavior are necessary to accurately estimate Plasmodium sp. entomologic inoculation rates throughout the An. darlingi vast geographical distribution.
Social Network Approaches to Recruitment, HIV Prevention, Medical Care, and Medication Adherence

Abstract:This article reviews the current issues and advancements in social network approaches to HIV prevention and care. Social network analysis can provide a method to understand health disparities in HIV rates, treatment access, and outcomes. Social network analysis is a valuable tool to link social structural factors to individual behaviors. Social networks provide an avenue for low-cost and sustainable HIV prevention interventions that can be adapted and translated into diverse populations. Social networks can be utilized as a viable approach to recruitment for HIV testing and counseling, HIV prevention interventions, optimizing HIV medical care, and medication adherence. Social network interventions may be face-to-face or through social media. Key issues in designing social network interventions are contamination due to social diffusion, network stability, density, and the choice and training of network members. There are also ethical issues involved in the development and implementation of social network interventions. Social network analyses can also be used to understand HIV transmission dynamics.
A UK national framework for support worker education and development

The role of the support worker is developing rapidly in the current political climate and support workers' boundaries of clinical practice are expanding. Many are now working across the therapy professions, in the public, private and voluntary sectors, and a number of support workers in the NHS are obtaining ‘assistant practitioner’ status (Standing Conference of English WDC Chief Executives, 2003).
HISTOPATHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF LOW LEVEL LASER THERAPY ON SECONDARY HEALING OF TEAT WOUNDS IN DAIRY CATTLE

Experimentally-induced teat wall wounds (1 x 3 cm) in four dairy cattle were subjected to treatment with a helium-neon (HeNe) laser at 632.8 nm wavelength. The 16 teats were divided in a Latin Square design into 4 groups and subjected to different doses of low level laser: (1) Group A, 3.64 J/cm2 for 15 min; (2) Group B, 2.42 J/cm2 for 10 min; (3) Group C, 1.21 J/cm2 for 5 min; and (4) Group D - control. Tissue samples from treatment and control groups were collected during surgery and after 13 sessions of laser therapy. Histological and histochemical examinations of posthealing specimens were condueted for evaluation of epidermal and fibroblast proliferation, production of collagen and ground substance, and neovascularization. Epithelialization and epithelial differentiation and keratinization in Groups A and B were more advanced compared with Groups C and D. Also, collagen fibres in Groups A and B were thicker, denser and more aligned than in Groups C and D. The posthealing histoarchitectural view of irradiated specimens, particularly in Groups A and B, suggests that low level laser therapy has a beneficial influence on wound healing.
Novel antibiotic treatment for skin and soft tissue infection

Purpose of review Acute bacterial skin and skin structure infection (ABSSSI) is a common and significant indication for antibiotic treatment. The microbial aetiology is becoming more resistant to available antibiotics and the treatment of patients is additionally challenged by extremes of age, obesity, diabetes and other co-morbidities. This review examines recent antimicrobial developments. Recent findings In many parts of the world, multidrug-resistant (MDR) staphylococci are the predominant cause of ABSSSI in both the community and in hospital. Increasing resistance in Gram-negative organisms presents problems in the management of surgical-site infections. Most new antibiotics have been developed to treat MDR Gram-positive bacteria and there are few agents to treat infections caused by MDR Gram-negative pathogens. Summary A number of novel agents are available clinically, with other agents of related chemical structure under development. There are no entirely new classes of antibiotics. Maintaining the efficacy of antimicrobial treatment require effective antibiotic stewardship, good infection prevention and the development of further new antibiotics.
Advancing the HIV cure agenda: the next 5 years

Purpose of review To explore how ethical considerations, improved diagnostics and data from clinical trials might see the lowering of some of the barriers blocking a cure for HIV infection over the next 5 years. Recent findings Despite the recent well publicized but eventually disappointing case reports, there remains only one successful HIV cure, the ‘Berlin patient’. We will review the data suggesting that more potent agents might achieve in-vivo viral activation and explore the tantalizing phenomenon of ‘posttreatment control’ following treatment in primary HIV infection. We will also explore how new assays and novel interventions might move the field forward. Summary There is a need for new agents that can be safely tested to impact the viral reservoir, a more meaningful understanding of how to assay patient samples, and research into mechanisms behind how the reservoir is established and impacted by therapy. With HIV+ve individuals responding so well to antiretroviral therapy, new trials must be tested hand-in-hand with guidance from patient representatives, especially with respect to determining the acceptable risk. The road to a cure is going to be difficult, but it is vital that inevitable disappointments do not detract from the final goal, which remains worth striving for.
Colonization of High-Risk Children with Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae in Greece

Greece Author(s): K. Mougkou, MD; A. Michos, MD, PhD; K. Spyridopoulou, MD; G. L. Daikos, MD, PhD; N. Spyridis, MD, PhD; V. Syriopoulou, MD, PhD; T. Zaoutis, MD Source: Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, Vol. 34, No. 7 (July 2013), pp. 757-759 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor. org/stable/10.1086/670997 . Accessed: 08/07/2013 09:53
The costs of adverse drug events in hospitalized patients. Adverse Drug Events Prevention Study Group

Objective To assess the additional resource utilization associated with an adverse drug event (ADE). Design Nested case-control study within a prospective cohort study. Participants The cohort included 4108 admissions to a stratified random sample of 11 medical and surgical units in 2 tertiary-care hospitals over a 6-month period. Cases were patients with an ADE, and the control for each case was the patient on the same unit as the case with the most similar pre-event length of stay. Main outcome measures Postevent length of stay and total costs. Methods Incidents were detected by self-report stimulated by nurses and pharmacists and by daily chart review, and were classified as to whether they represented ADEs. Information on length of stay and charges was obtained from billing data, and costs were estimated by multiplying components of charges times hospital-specific ratios of costs to charges. Results During the study period, there were 247 ADEs among 207 admissions. After outliers and multiple episodes were excluded, there were 190 ADEs, of which 60 were preventable. In paired regression analyses adjusting for multiple factors, including severity, comorbidity, and case mix, the additional length of stay associated with an ADE was 2.2 days (P=.04), and the increase in cost associated with an ADE was $3244 (P=.04). For preventable ADEs, the increases were 4.6 days in length of stay (P=.03) and $5857 in total cost (P=.07). After adjusting for our sampling strategy, the estimated postevent costs attributable to an ADE were $2595 for all ADEs and $4685 for preventable ADEs. Based on these costs and data about the incidence of ADEs, we estimate that the annual costs attributable to all ADEs and preventable ADEs for a 700-bed teaching hospital are $5.6 million and $2.8 million, respectively. Conclusions The substantial costs of ADEs to hospitals justify investment in efforts to prevent these events. Moreover, these estimates are conservative because they do not include the costs of injuries to patients or malpractice costs.
Responses of Social and Solitary Bees to Pulsed Floral Resources

Pulsed food resources lead to mismatches between distribution of consumers and resources in space and time. Many studies have investigated how pollinators and floral resources covary in space, but few have looked at their covariance among years. I studied responses of two bee taxa, Bombus (a social genus) and Anthophora (a solitary genus), to variation in flowering by Astragalus scaphoides, a perennial herb that flowers in alternate years. First, I quantified the rate at which individual plants were visited by bees. Anthophora showed evidence of a demographic response to resource pulses—that is, more individuals were seen in the year after a high-flowering year—whereas Bombus did not. Second, I quantified pollinator behavior by following individual bees and recording the proportion of visits to A. scaphoides within single foraging bouts. The proportion of visits to A. scaphoides by both taxa increased with A. scaphoides’s flowering density. Higher specialization in high-flowering years likely makes both taxa better pollinators in high-flowering years. If these taxa differ in effectiveness as pollinators, then these responses translate into variation in pollination services in space and time, specifically, more activity by Bombus in high-flowering years and more by Anthophora in years following high-flowering years. They also emphasize that pollinator activity depends in part on past—as well as current—floral resources.
THE CHEMICAL PROPHYLAXIS FOR POLIOMYELITIS: THE TECHNIC OF APPLYING ZINC SULFATE INTRANASALLY

The recent discovery that certain chemicals applied to the olfactory area of the nose in monkeys gives a temporary immunity against subsequent instillations of an active poliomyelitis virus is the first definite evidence that this disease can be prevented and offers the hope that similar prophylactic treatment in children will likewise protect them. In 1935 Armstrong and Harrison1of the United States Public Health Service reported that monkeys could be protected against intranasal inoculations of poliomyelitis virus by previous douching of the nose with solutions of alum, trinitrophenol (picric acid) or a combination of the two. A rather extensive field application of this type of prevention2was made in the summer of 1936, but the nasal spray applications were generally carried out in such a manner as to indicate, in the light of later work, that the majority of the children received no protection. In 1936 Schultz and
A review on body area networks security for healthcare

Body area networks (BANs) are emerging as one of the main research trends in recent years, particularly in the area of personal health monitoring. Since health data are private and sensitive information, the security of data transmission within a BAN becomes a critical issue that requires immediate attention. In this paper, we attempt to examine possible attacks of the resource-constrained BANs and present state-of-the-art communication protocols, cryptographic methods, and key management schemes that are useful for BANs security. We will also discuss the problems of existing solutions and possible future research directions on security for BANs. A novel biometric method that utilizes the biological channels (biochannels) to assist secure information transmission within a BAN will also be highlighted and discussed.
Estimated Burden of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in California Hospitals after Changes to Administrative Codes, 2005–2010

We assess the impact of revised International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus burden in California hospitals. Codes were rapidly adopted, demonstrating new capture of colonization and continued relatively stable capture of infections. Nevertheless, despite new colonization codes, coded data demonstrated poor retention between serial hospitalizations.
Recovery of Delayed Graft Function after Calcineurin Inhibitor Sparing Regimen in a Renal Transplant Patient with Calcineurin Inhibitor Toxicity: A Case Report

The recipient candidate was a 51-year-old male with end-stage renal disease owing to diabetes mellitus. The initial immunosuppressive regimen included basiliximab for induction and tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and steroids. Urine output was 413 mL/day on the operative day and 100 mL/day on the postoperative day (POD) 1. There was no definite stenosis of the ureter or vessels. He had anuria on POD 2∼4 and he had undergone hemodialysis. His serum creatinine level did not decrease. Therefore, a graft biopsy was performed on POD 4. The pathologic finding was consistent with acute calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) toxicity. There was no evidence of rejection or acute tubular necrosis. Anuria continued on POD 6; therefore, we started sirolimus instead of a CNI based regimen. Graft function was gradually recovered 1 day after reduction of CNI dose and hemodialysis was stopped. The serum creatinine level was normalized on POD 10. He was discharged on POD 21.
Reply to Parcell et al

Affiliations: 1. Medical Microbiology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, National Health Service Tayside, Dundee DDI 9SY, Scotland, United Kingdom; 2. Department of Medical Microbiology, James Paget University Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, Lowestoft Road, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk NR31 6LA, England, United Kingdom; 3. Department of Radiology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee DDI 9SY, Scotland, United Kingdom. Address correspondence to Benjamin Parcell, FRCPath, Medical Microbiology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, National Health Service Tayside, Dundee DDI 9SY, Scotland, United Kingdom (b.parcell@nhs.net). Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2013;34(12):1328-1329 © 2013 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved. 0899-823X/2013/3412-0017$15.00. DOI: 10.1086/673996
Pulmonary 2-Deoxy-2-[18F]-Fluoro-D-Glucose Uptake is Low in Treated Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Glucose metabolism measurement using 2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoro-D-glucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) could provide in vivo information about pulmonary vascular remodeling. The purpose of this study was to assess whether pulmonary 18FDG uptake in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) patients changes and, if so, to determine whether the change is related to disease severity and survival. Sixteen IPAH patients who were treated with IPAH-specific therapy and 7 patients who had a myocardial infarction (MI) without pulmonary hypertension were included. IPAH disease severity was determined using the 6-minute walk test and right heart catheterization 2 days before 18FDG PET. Regions of interest were defined for left and right lungs, and standardized uptake values (SUVs), normalized to body weight, injected dose, and plasma glucose level, were derived. Mean SUVs for IPAH left and right lungs were 0.40 ± 0.26 and 0.44 ± 0.18 (P = 0.32), respectively. In MI patients, SUVs were 0.38 ± 0.13 and 0.35 ± 0.10 (P = 0.24) in left and right lungs, respectively. Total lung SUVs were similar in IPAH and MI patients (0.41 ± 0.19 vs. 0.37 ± 0.11; P = 0.56). There was no correlation between SUV and IPAH disease severity parameters. In addition, lung SUV did not predict survival in IPAH patients (hazard ratio, 1.155; 95% confidence interval, 0.16–8.26; P = 0.88). In conclusion, pulmonary 18FDG uptake in treated IPAH patients is low and is not associated with disease severity and survival, thereby limiting its clinical use in patient care.
Spatial Structure Mitigates Fitness Costs in Host-Parasite Coevolution

The extent of population mixing is known to influence the coevolutionary outcomes of many host and parasite traits, including the evolution of generalism (the ability to resist or infect a broad range of genotypes). While the segregation of populations into interconnected demes has been shown to influence the evolution of generalism, the role of local interactions between individuals is unclear. Here, we combine an individual-based model of microbial communities with a well-established framework of genetic specificity that matches empirical observations of bacterium-phage interactions. We find the evolution of generalism in well-mixed populations to be highly sensitive to the severity of associated fitness costs, but the constraining effect of costs on the evolution of generalism is lessened in spatially structured populations. The contrasting outcomes between the two environments can be explained by different scales of competition (i.e., global vs. local). These findings suggest that local interactions may have important effects on the evolution of generalism in host-parasite interactions, particularly in the presence of high fitness costs.
New approaches for quantitating the inhibition of HIV-1 replication by antiviral drugs in vitro and in vivo

Purpose of review With highly active antiretroviral therapy, HIV-1 infection has become a manageable lifelong disease. Developing optimal treatment regimens requires understanding how to best measure anti-HIV activity in vitro and how drug dose–response curves generated in vitro correlate with in-vivo efficacy. Recent findings Several recent studies have indicated that conventional multiround infectivity assays are inferior to single cycle assays at both low and high levels of inhibition. Multiround infectivity assays can fail to detect subtle but clinically significant anti-HIV activity. The discoveries of the anti-HIV activity of the hepatitis B drug entecavir and the herpes simplex drug acyclovir were facilitated by single-round infectivity assays. Recent studies using a single-round infectivity assay have shown that a previously neglected parameter, the dose–response curve slope, is an extremely important determinant of antiviral activity. Some antiretroviral drugs have steep slopes that result in extraordinary levels of antiviral activity. The instantaneous inhibitory potential, the log reduction in infectivity in a single-round assay at clinical drug concentrations, has been proposed as a novel index for comparing antiviral activity. Summary Among in-vitro measures of antiviral activity, single-round infection assays have the advantage of measuring instantaneous inhibition by a drug. Re-evaluating the antiviral activity of approved HIV-1 drugs has shown that the slope parameter is an important factor in drug activity. Determining the instantaneous inhibitory potential by using a single-round infectivity assay may provide important insights that can predict the in-vivo efficacy of anti-HIV-1 drugs.
Host–pathogen interplay of Haemophilus ducreyi

Purpose of review Haemophilus ducreyi, the causative agent of the sexually transmitted infection chancroid, is primarily a pathogen of human skin. During infection, H. ducreyi thrives extracellularly in a milieu of professional phagocytes and other antibacterial components of the innate and adaptive immune responses. This review summarizes our understanding of the interplay between this pathogen and its host that leads to development and persistence of disease. Recent findings H. ducreyi expresses key virulence mechanisms to resist host defenses. The secreted LspA proteins are tyrosine-phosphorylated by host kinases, which may contribute to their antiphagocytic effector function. The serum resistance and adherence functions of DsrA map to separate domains of this multifunctional virulence factor. An influx transporter protects H. ducreyi from killing by the antimicrobial peptide LL37. Regulatory genes have been identified that may coordinate virulence factor expression during disease. Dendritic cells and natural killer cells respond to H. ducreyi and may be involved in determining the differential outcomes of infection observed in humans. Summary A human model of H. ducreyi infection has provided insights into virulence mechanisms that allow this human-specific pathogen to survive immune pressures. Components of the human innate immune system may also determine the ultimate fate of H. ducreyi infection by driving either clearance of the organism or an ineffective response that allows disease progression.