Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pressure mapping systems: reliability of pressure map interpretation

Background: Pressure mapping systems offer a new technology to assist with pressure care assessment. Data output from such systems can be presented in three forms: numerical data, a three-dimensional grid and a colour-coded pressure map. Objectives: To (1) investigate whether sole use of the pressure map was a reliable method of interpreting interface pressures when compared with use of the numerical data; (2) establish the inter and intra-rater reliability of using pressure maps to assess pressure and determine whether reliability depended upon system operator experience; and (3) examine whether reliability extended to the range of seating surfaces being tested. Design: A reliability study assessing the ranking of pressure maps recorded by the Force Sensing Array pressure mapping system. Setting: A university occupational therapy department and a community NHS trust. Subjects: Fifteen occupational therapists with experience in pressure mapping and 50 occupational therapy students with no practical experience of pressure mapping. Interventions: Two sets of pressure maps were pre-recorded with an able-bodied adult seated on a variety of surfaces, with maps on each individual surface recorded over a 20-minute period at 2-minute intervals. Subjects ranked both sets of maps in terms of ‘best to poorest’ distribution of pressure. Main outcome measures: Rank orders of (1) pressure maps; (2) average interface pressures (mmHg); (3) maximum interface pressures (mmHg). Results: The use of pressure maps to interpret interface pressures was a reliable method. Significant agreement existed within (p < 0.001) and between groups of operators and reliability extended over the range of seating surfaces tested. Conclusions: The practice of using pressure maps to interpret interface pressures in seating as opposed to using the associated numerical data can be supported. This was shown to be a reliable method of assessment by both experienced and less experienced operators across a range of seating surfaces.
Consensus control for agent networks with stationary leaders

This paper investigates the distributed containment control of multi-agent systems with multiple stationary leaders with event-triggering protocols. A distributed event-triggering protocol is proposed, where the triggering function of each agent with an exponentially decreasing threshold is developed to guarantee the convergence of the followers to the convex hull formed by the leaders. Finally, simulations are given to illustrate the proposed event-triggering algorithm.
Ecstasy versus alcohol: Tolstoy and the variations of unhappiness

The Russian classic Anna Karenina commences with the following sentence ‘Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. ’ (Tolstoy, 1877). The same might be said for the social recreational drugs, since they all enhance personal feelings of well-being, but cause distress in many different ways. Cannabis, alcohol, amphetamine and ecstasy/MDMA, all generate pleasant feelings for a period – which is why they are taken. The problem is that their regular usage generally leads to psychobiological distress, although the pattern of this distress is different for each type of drug. In the May editorial of the Journal of Psychopharmacology, David Nutt (2006) contrasted the psychobiological costs of two recreational drugs – ethanol/alcohol and ecstasy/MDMA. The alcohol findings were based on a series of papers from that issue, where the need for a less damaging alternative to alcohol was proposed (Nutt, 2006; Cox, 2006; others). Ecstasy was selected as the comparison, because the March and May issues also contained the papers from a special ecstasy/MDMA issue, which I had helped to organize and edit (Parrott and Marsden, 2006). Nutt (2006) noted that alcohol drinking was extremely harmful, with around 22000 premature deaths in the UK each year, and numerous other alcohol-related incidents, including interpersonal violence, road traffic deaths, brain damage, liver damage and heart disease (Table 1 in Nutt, 2006). Psychopharmacologists were urged to develop a less damaging happy pill, more equivalent to Aldous Huxley’s soma (Cox, 2006). It was then suggested that these sorts of problem did not generally arise with recreational ecstasy/MDMA. Hence in Nutt’s Table 1 it was noted that ecstasy was associated with around ten deaths per year, there was no interpersonal violence, no road traffic deaths, no heart damage, no cirrhosis and that the evidence on brain damage was ‘unsure’. This led Nutt (2006) to ask: ‘Why is ecstasy illegal, when alcohol, a considerably more harmful drug, is not? ’ This conclusion about their comparative dangers was based on a series of statements about ecstasy/MDMA which I found very surprising. Hence this Editorial Reply. In particular I would like to note the empirical evidence on each of the above topics, since it shows that MDMA is damaging in all of these areas. In relation to aggression, the acute administration of MDMA induces feelings of warmth and empathy in humans (Cohen, 1998), and reduces aggressive behaviour in mice (Navarro and Maldonado, 1999). However this pro-social period lasts for only a few hours. Afterwards there is a more prolonged period of serotonergic depletion, when a number of psychobiological functions (including aggression) are adversely affected. In a prospective investigation of young recreational ecstasy users, Curran et al. (2004) reported a significant increase in aggressive feelings, and behavioural indices of aggressiveness, 4 days after recreational MDMA, with values returning to baseline after 7 days. In an extension of the study, this significant increase in mid-week
Deposition of beef serum gamma-globulin in rabbit organs and subcellular fractions.

Rabbits injected with beef serum γ-globulin, which had been coupled with very small amounts of diazotized S35-sulfanilic acid, were sacrificed at intervals of time from 15 minutes to 93 days, and their organs assayed for residual trichloroacetic acid precipitable radioactivity. The distribution of radioactivity among the subcellular fractions isolated by differential centrifugation from spleen and liver homogenates was also determined. A high concentration of the labeled globulin persisted in the blood until 4–5 days after injection, when there was an abrupt decline due to the onset of antibody formation. After 7.5 days, the levels of globulin in all the organs investigated, except heart, were much higher than the blood level. By the 93rd day, most of the organ levels had fallen only to about a third of the high levels at 7.5 days. Evidently, antibody formation is initiated and continues in the presence of deposited antigen. The beef globulin undergoes a brief initial deposition in the microsomal fraction of the liver, but soon becomes nearly evenly distributed among all fractions of the perfused liver. With the abrupt fall in the blood level of antigen accompanying antibody formation, there is a decrease in the relative activity of the supernatant fraction, and an increase in the relative concentration of antigen in the mitochondrial fraction of both liver and spleen, suggesting that the components of this subcellular fraction may be involved in the process of antibody formation.
Infection by verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli

Verocytotoxin (VT)-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) are a newly recognized group of enteric pathogens which are increasingly being recognized as common causes of diarrhea in some geographic settings. Outbreak studies indicate that most patients with VTEC infection develop mild uncomplicated diarrhea. However, a significant risk of two serious and potentially life-threatening complications, hemorrhagic colitis and the hemolytic uremic syndrome, makes VTEC infection a public health problem of serious concern. The main reservoirs of VTEC appear to be the intestinal tracts of animals, and foods of animal (especially bovine) origin are probably the principal sources for human infection. The term VT refers to a family of subunit exotoxins with high biological activity. Individual VTEC strains elaborate one or both of at least two serologically distinct, bacteriophage-mediated VTs (VT1 and VT2) which are closely related to Shiga toxin and are thus also referred to as Shiga-like toxins. The holotoxins bind to cells, via their B subunits, to a specific receptor which is probably the glycolipid, globotriosyl ceramide (Gb3). Binding is followed by internalization of the A subunit, which, after it is proteolytically nicked and reduced to the A1 fragment, inhibits protein synthesis in mammalian cells by inactivating 60S ribosomal subunits through selective structural modification of 28S ribosomal ribonucleic acid. The mechanism of VTEC diarrhea is still controversial, and the relative roles of locally acting VT and "attaching and effacing adherence" of VTEC to the mucosa have yet to be resolved. There is increasing evidence that hemolytic uremic syndrome and possibly hemorrhagic colitis result from the systemic action of VT on vascular endothelial cells. The role of antitoxic immunity in preventing the systemic complications of VTEC infection is being explored. Antibiotics appear to be contraindicated in the treatment of VTEC infection. The most common VTEC serotype associated with human disease is O157:H7, but over 50 different VT-positive O:H serotypes have now been identified. The best strategies for diagnosing human VTEC infection include testing for the presence of free VT in fecal filtrates and examining fecal cultures for VTEC by means of deoxyribonucleic acid probes that specify genes encoding VT1 and VT2. Both methods are currently confined to specialized laboratories and await commercial development for wider use. In the meantime, most laboratories should continue to screen for the most common human VTEC serotype, O157:H7, using a sorbitol-containing MacConkey medium.
Depression and Body Image among Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Common features of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), including hyperandrogenism, ovarian dysfunction and obesity, can be highly distressing. We compared 40 women with PCOS to women with infertility but not PCOS, and to women with neither PCOS nor infertility, on measures of depression and body image. Women with PCOS reported higher depression scores and greater body dissatisfaction (p < .001) than comparison group women. Body image was strongly associated with depression overall, even after controlling body mass. Among women with PCOS, body dissatisfaction measures and education explained 66 percent of the variance in depression, suggesting explanations of the PCOS–depression link should consider the role of potentially mediating psychosocial variables.
Parvovirus B19 infection and Diamond‐Blackfan anaemia

It is the purpose of the study to report the frequency of parvovirus in children with a diagnosis of Diamond‐Blackfan anaemia and to discuss the possible aetiological role of parvovirus in Diamond‐Blackfan anaemia. We found parvovirus DNA in 3 of 11 bone marrow smears. Giant pronormoblasts showed low sensitivity (33%) and poor specificity (75%). The presence of giant pronormoblasts was associated with a very high myeloid: erythroid ratio, and may not be specific for parvovirus infection, but a feature of severely suppressed erythropoiesis. The three parvovirus‐positive patients were the only children who experienced a remission, and who are free of medication. The seven surviving parvovirus‐negative patients are all currently on steroid treatment.
Comments on Efficacy and Safety of Rivastigmine in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease who Failed to Benefit from Treatment with Donepezil

● The majority of patients enrolled in this study (64.7%) were defined as donepezil ‘non-responders’ based on ‘a significant and documented loss of functional autonomy, as assessed by their physician’. This is a vague criterion, which is difficult to interpret. Was the loss of function due to AD progression or due to co-morbid illness, concomitant medication, or some other factor? If it was due to AD progression, was it greater than would be expected if the patient were not receiving treatment? The mean length of donepezil therapy before entering this study was 13.8 months, a time period during which AD symptoms could be expected to progress to at least some degree on any currently available therapy, although the patient could still be benefiting from the therapy by showing a less than expected decline. It is also not clear if the physician making the assessment of this loss of function was the same as the physician enrolling the patient in the study. If so, this could have influenced the decision regarding the patient’s loss of function, another potential bias. ● Data from published donepezil studies show that by 6 weeks after discontinuing donepezil, patients who had been treated for 6 months had declined on ADAS-cog to the level of the placebo group. When donepezil was restarted, all patients improved, but neither those originally treated with donepezil nor those originally treated with placebo improved back to, or above, their original baselines. This demonstrates the loss of benefits that are not regained when donepezil is discontinued for 6 weeks or more. In this study, patients were off donepezil for 1 week to 3 months before entering the study. They were then titrated to effective doses of rivastigmine over 4–6 weeks. The result is that it was 5 weeks to 4.5 months before patients were again receiving effective doses of a cholinesterase inhibitor, making it unlikely that they would regain benefits lost during this time, thus raising both clinical and ethical questions.
Evidence for multiple sclerosis as an infectious disease

Evidence for a viral cause of multiple sclerosis (MS) is indirect since no infectious agent has been reproducibly isolated from MS tissues nor has viral genome or antigen been consistently identified. The occurrence of spontaneous human and animal models of demyelination, serologic studies, and epidemiologic data provide pursuasive circumstantial evidence for an infectious trigger in this disease. Potential mechanisms for viral induced demyelination include persistent infection of host tissues or immune mediated organ damage either in the presence or absence of the infectious agent. Any proposed viral candidate should cause demyelination in animals or man and the pattern of infection should be consistent with the unique geographic features of MS epidemiology. In addition, serologic studies should support an infection by the agent and/or viral genome should be detected in MS tissues. At this time no virus can be unequivocally linked to MS but cumulative evidence is more supportive of canine distemper virus than other viruses.
Willingness to use mental health counseling and antidepressants in older Korean Americans: the role of beliefs and stigma about depression

ABSTRACT Objectives: Despite a high prevalence of mental health problems, racial/ethnic minorities are often reluctant to seek mental health services. Their reluctance may be shaped by cultural beliefs and stigma about mental health. The present study examined how beliefs and stigma about depression (e.g. disbelief in depression as a health-related condition, perception of depression as a normal part of aging, and/or depression as a sign of personal weakness/family shame) pose barriers to older Korean Americans’ willingness to use mental health counseling and antidepressants. Method: Data were drawn from surveys with 420 Korean American older adults (Mage= 71.6, SD = 7.6) living in the New York City metropolitan area in 2010. Using a separate logistic regression model, the role of beliefs and stigma about depression in predicting participants’ willingness to receive mental health counseling and to take antidepressants was tested. Based on Andersen’s behavioral health service use model, the analysis was conducted in consideration of predisposing characteristics (age, gender, marital status, education, and acculturation), mental health needs (anxiety, depressive symptoms, and self-rated mental health), and enabling/hindering factors (beliefs and stigma). Results: Similar proportions of the sample (69–70%) indicated their willingness to use mental health counseling or antidepressants. Willingness was more likely among participants who had beliefs about depression as a health-related concern (OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.15−3.27 for mental health counseling; OR = 4.47, 95% CI = 2.59−7.70 for antidepressants) and less likely among those who associated depression with family shame (OR = .55, 95% CI = 0.33−0.91 for mental health counseling; OR = .56, 95% CI = 0.33−0.95 for antidepressants). Conclusion: In addressing mental health problems and promoting the use of mental health services, cultural beliefs and stigma shared within an ethnic community should be considered. Given that disbelief in the medical model of depression and family shame reduced willingness to use mental health counseling and antidepressants, promoting mental health literacy for older immigrants could be beneficial.
Regulation of Leaf Starch Degradation by Abscisic Acid Is Important for Osmotic Stress Tolerance in Plants[OPEN]

Starch in the chloroplasts of osmotically stressed leaves is degraded by the synergistic action of abscisic acid-controlled enzymes to sustain both carbon export to the root and osmolyte accumulation. Starch serves functions that range over a timescale of minutes to years, according to the cell type from which it is derived. In guard cells, starch is rapidly mobilized by the synergistic action of β-AMYLASE1 (BAM1) and α-AMYLASE3 (AMY3) to promote stomatal opening. In the leaves, starch typically accumulates gradually during the day and is degraded at night by BAM3 to support heterotrophic metabolism. During osmotic stress, starch is degraded in the light by stress-activated BAM1 to release sugar and sugar-derived osmolytes. Here, we report that AMY3 is also involved in stress-induced starch degradation. Recently isolated Arabidopsis thaliana amy3 bam1 double mutants are hypersensitive to osmotic stress, showing impaired root growth. amy3 bam1 plants close their stomata under osmotic stress at similar rates as the wild type but fail to mobilize starch in the leaves. 14C labeling showed that amy3 bam1 plants have reduced carbon export to the root, affecting osmolyte accumulation and root growth during stress. Using genetic approaches, we further demonstrate that abscisic acid controls the activity of BAM1 and AMY3 in leaves under osmotic stress through the AREB/ABF-SnRK2 kinase-signaling pathway. We propose that differential regulation and isoform subfunctionalization define starch-adaptive plasticity, ensuring an optimal carbon supply for continued growth under an ever-changing environment.
Intracellular Production of Brucella L Forms II. Induction and Survival of Brucella abortus L Forms in Tissue Culture

Hatten, Betty A. (The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas), and S. Edward Sulkin. Intracellular production of Brucella L forms. II. Induction and survival of Brucella abortus L forms in tissue culture. J. Bacteriol. 91:14–20. 1966. —Intracellular survival of altered brucellae, possibly L forms, was not greatly affected by penicillin or streptomycin in concentrations ranging from 5.0 to 40 μg/ml, but a combination of these two antibiotics (2.5 to 20 μg/ml each) reduced the number of positive L-form cultures. Tetracycline (2.0 μg/ml) decreased the number of positive L-form cultures at about the same rate as combinations of the higher concentrations of penicillin and streptomycin. Various concentrations of tetracycline (0.1 to 2.0 μg/ml) with 5.0 μg/ml of penicillin or streptomycin significantly reduced the number of positive L-form cultures. L forms were recovered for several days after elimination of bacteria from the cultures by all of the antibiotics tested. L-form production was not dependent upon the presence of antibiotics in the culture medium, but they were recovered in greater numbers when bacteria were still present in the hamster kidney cells. Addition of thallium acetate to infected cells (at varying intervals of time after infection) to control bacterial growth and conversion to the L phase during cellular disintegration decreased the number of positive L-form cultures obtained over a 10-day period. Comparison of the antibiotic sensitivity of bacteria recovered from infected tissue culture cells with the stock strain of Brucella abortus indicated that some resistance to penicillin and tetracycline had developed. A marked resistance to streptomycin was observed in those bacteria recovered from cells maintained in the presence of this antibiotic.
Streptococcus pneumoniae Endocarditis in Adults: A Multicenter Study in France in the Era of Penicillin Resistance (1991‐1998)

To better define the overall characteristics and risk factors for dying of adult pneumococcal endocarditis (PE) focusing on the echocardiographic diagnosis, the impact of surgery, and emergence of penicillin resistance, the medical and microbiologic charts of adult PE cases observed between 1991 and 1998 in university and general hospitals were reviewed through a nationwide retrospective study in France. Thirty cases of PE (22 men, 8 women; median age, 53 yr; range, 27-87 yr) were collected and validated. Twenty patients (66.7%) had no known predisposing cardiopathy; 4 had a bioprosthetic valve. The primary focus of infection was pneumonia in 10 (33.3%), and meningitis was noted in 12 (40.0%). Half the patients suffered from chronic alcoholism. Echocardiography detected vegetation(s) in 29 cases (96.7%), valvular perforation in 6 (20.0%), and/or valve ring abscess in 4 (13.3%). The most frequent complications were congestive heart failure (n = 19), large arterial emboli (n = 8), and focal abscesses (n = 7). Five strains were penicillin-resistant. Twenty (66.7%) patients underwent valve replacement, 12 of them during the first month. The overall mortality rate was 24.1%. According to a multivariate analysis, the risk factors independently associated with dying were age > or = 65 yr and septic shock, while cardiac surgery was protective (p < 0.01). In conclusion, PE is usually fulminant and causes severe valve damage and embolic complications; its short-term prognosis might be improved by early valve replacement.
Degree of Exposure to Domestic Violence, Psychopathology, and Functional Impairment in Children and Adolescents

There are discrepancies about whether children who witness and suffer domestic violence (DV) have similar outcomes in terms of psychopathology. This work examines the relationship between different types of exposure to DV and child psychopathology and functional impairment. One hundred and forty-four Spanish children aged from 4 to 17 years and exposed to DV were evaluated using a diagnostic interview and other instruments of psychopathology and functional impairment. The participants were classified in three groups according to the degree of exposure: witness (n = 72), involved (n = 52), and victim (n = 20). According to mothers’ self-reports and mother—child combined information, DV equally affects psychopathology and functional impairment regardless of the degree of the exposure. Children’s self-reports showed a linear trend to present greater psychopathology as a victim than as a witness. The differential effect of exposure to DV measured in this study depended on the informant, which underlines the importance of obtaining information from the children exposed to violence at home.