Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrasound indications for chronic pain management: an update on the most recent evidence

Purpose of review The ability of ultrasound to provide detailed anatomic visualization while avoiding radiation exposure continues to make it an appealing tool for many practitioners of chronic pain management. This review will present the most recent evidence regarding the use of ultrasound-guidance for the performance of interventional procedures in the treatment of chronic pain. Recent findings For a variety of different procedures, studies continue to compare ultrasound-guided techniques to commonly used fluoroscopic or landmark-based techniques. Small, randomized controlled trials are beginning to demonstrate that ultrasound-guided approaches to interventional pain procedures can be as well tolerated and effective as the traditionally used techniques, while providing some potential advantages in terms of decreased radiation exposure, avoidance of vascular structures, and in some cases, improved efficiency and decreased rates of adverse effects. Summary Despite continued interest in ultrasound-guided techniques for chronic pain management procedures, the evidence is still limited mainly to small, randomized trials and case series. For some procedures, such as stellate ganglion block and peripheral joint injections, recent evidence appears to be tilting in favor of ultrasound-guidance as the preferred technique, though fluoroscopy continues to be a much more reliable method for detection of intravascular uptake of injectate.
Studies of the Source of Glucose in the Extracellular Compartment of the Rat Brain

Rats were implanted in the striatum with a glucose biosensor glued to a dialysis probe. Changes in extracellular glucose concentration in response to either neuronal stimulation or 3-min periods of hypoxia and hyperoxia were compared when the dialysis probe was perfused with either artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) alone or aCSF with the addition of the β-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol. Propranolol had no effect on basal levels of glucose or the changes in glucose produced by hypoxia and hyperoxia, which are attributed to changes in the utilization of glucose. Following neuronal activation there is an initial reduction followed by a delayed, prolonged increase in glucose which is suppressed by propranolol. The results suggest that propranolol has no effect on glucose utilization, but blocks the delivery of glucose from astrocytes.
Revisiones BJSM: A–Z de los Suplementos Nutricionales: Suplementos Dietarios, Alimentos de Nutrición Deportiva y Ayudas Ergogénicas para la Salud y el Rendimiento: Parte 3

Un aspecto importante de nuestra serie de revisiones A-Z es que a menudo cada parte nos aporta un panorama real, tal como ocurre en este caso. En este caso tenemos: la citrulina, un aminoácido no esencial; la coenzima Q10, una coenzima que es parte del sistema antioxidante general; el calostro, la primera leche que producen los mamíferos después de dar a luz y concretamente el calostro bovino que es un suplemento popular entre atletas debido a sus supuestos beneficios sobre la respuesta inmune; continuaremos con el ácido linoleico conjugado, una serie de isómeros estructurales y geométricos del ácido linoleico que pueden desempeñar un papel en la optimización de la composición corporal y, finalmente, nos referiremos al cobre, un mineral con un uso multifuncional que podría requerir ser monitoreado en atletas en riesgo. Agradecemos a los revisores invitados por sus excelentes contribuciones que dan una visión imparcial sobre el valor de estos nutrientes y suplementos individuales. Los autores han podido establecer que en algunos casos, hasta el momento, la evidencia sobre el rendimiento es limitada o simplemente no existe.
Emulating software-defined wireless network: Bicasting scenario

Demands for higher data rate have always been increasing. The most prominent cause for this fact is the new always-connected lifestyle together with the emerging massive connected objects (i.e. IoT) and new bandwidth-hungry services. Depending on the technological aspects of the services and the underlying infrastructure, such requirement might need different strategies. In this work, we investigate strategies to increase data rate in wireless LAN by bundling available resources in different networks to be used by applications. We spesifically focus on the so-called bicasting mechanism in some scenarios which are run inside Mininet-Wifi, an SDN-based Wi-Fi network emulator. Several parameters indicating rate performance have been evaluated and presented. Though the main purpose of the bicasting has been achieved, our early result shows that a fine-tuned strategy might be necessary to further improve performance.
Holistic Nursing Simulation: A Concept Analysis

Simulation as a technology and holistic nursing care as a philosophy are two components within nursing programs that have merged during the process of knowledge and skill acquisition in the care of the patients as whole beings. Simulation provides opportunities to apply knowledge and skill through the use of simulators, standardized patients, and virtual settings. Concerns with simulation have been raised regarding the integration of the nursing process and recognizing the totality of the human being. Though simulation is useful as a technology, the nursing profession places importance on patient care, drawing on knowledge, theories, and expertise to administer patient care. There is a need to promptly and comprehensively define the concept of holistic nursing simulation to provide consistency and a basis for quality application within nursing curricula. This concept analysis uses Walker and Avant’s approach to define holistic nursing simulation by defining antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents. The concept of holism and the practice of holistic nursing incorporated into simulation require an analysis of the concept of holistic nursing simulation by developing a language and model to provide direction for educators in design and development of holistic nursing simulation.
Exercise and Pharmacology as Medicine for Cardiovascular Diseases: From Bench to Bedside and Back.

Despite concerted scientific and clinical efforts, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of death within the United States and industrialized world. As part of the effort to counteract this public health concern, the American Heart Association assembled a comprehensive cardiovascular health index of Life’s Simple 7 key metrics of cardiovascular health: smoking, body mass index, total cholesterol, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and physical activity. Although success has been achieved in improving some of these metrics over the last decade, physical activity remains largely unchanged or worsened (1). In nearly all populations examined thus far, cardiorespiratory fitness is the strongest predictor of CVD mortality (2) and, in many cases, is a stronger predictor of mortality than traditional risk factors. As such, it’s not surprising that exercise is becoming increasingly recognized as medicine, and thus, its interaction with common CVD medications must be considered. Historically, exercise and pharmacology have been studied as independent means to treat or prevent CVD-related outcomes. As such, little is known about the convergence of these CVD therapies, leaving researchers and clinicians to assume whether pharma-exercise interactions are additive, antagonistic, or synergistic. Although exercise-pharma interactions are important for primary prevention as well as in clinical rehabilitation, they are particularly important in the setting of secondary prevention, where better knowledge of an exercise-pharma interaction could contribute to more effective prevention of diagnosed CVD. In this issue of Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, Quindry et al. (3) propose that exercise adaptations be central to all pharmaceutical advancements in CVD therapy, especially with novel pharmacologic interventions. The authors provide a bench-to-bedside discussion of exercise and pharmacological approaches, specifically aimed to address whether exercise and CVD drug therapies can work synergistically to provide cardioprotection against ischemic injury and disease.
The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Cucumis sativus var. Hardwickii, the wild progenitor of cultivated cucumber

Abstract The complete chloroplast genome sequence of wild cucumber (Cucumis sativus var. hardwickii) was determined and characterized in this study. The genome is of 155 277 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeats regions (IRs) of 25 198 bp, which are separated by a large single-copy region of 86 618 bp and a small single-copy region of 18 263 bp. The wild cucumber chloroplast genome has 130 known genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNA genes, and 37 tRNA genes. Among these genes, 19 comprise one or two introns. There are 11 tRNA genes present in the IR of the chloroplast genome. Phylogenomic analysis showed that C. sativus var. hardwickii forms a cluster with other Cucumis species with strong bootstrap supports and is closely related to C. sativus var. sativus. This newly sequenced chloroplast genome sequence may provide useful genetic information to explore wild cucumber germplasms for cucumber breeding programs.
Review of perforator flaps in head and neck cancer surgery

Purpose of reviewPerforator flaps are increasingly being used to reconstruct head and neck defects. They offer several advantages over nonperforator-based flaps with lower donor site morbidity and a versatile range of reconstructive options. The anterolateral thigh flap is well established in the head and neck and is a good example of a reliable perforator free flap. With the increasing use of both free and regional perforator-based flaps, it is timely to review their anatomy, clinical applications, and role in head and neck reconstruction. We also discuss increasingly popular perforator flaps such as the submental flap for the head and neck. Recent findingsThe anterolateral thigh flap is now commonly used to reconstruct a wide variety of head and neck defects. The submental flap fills a niche role for reconstruction of intraoral defects. SummaryPerforator flaps are now mainstream reconstructive options in the head and neck surgeon's armamentarium.
Tobacco point-of-sale advertising in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina and compliance with the new tobacco advertising restrictions

Despite increased awareness of the health threat posed by tobacco use, Latin America continues to experience high smoking rates. Argentina is no exception, where an estimated 22.1% of adults were smokers in 2012.1 Prior to 2011, few limitations were placed on the advertisement of tobacco products in Argentina, and any restrictions were largely self-imposed by the tobacco companies.2 On 14 June 2011, Argentina enacted the ‘National Law of Tobacco Control: Law 26.687’. This law provides 42 articles that address tobacco advertising, packaging, product composition, sale/distribution, secondhand smoke, and preventive education. Notably, it largely prohibits all forms of tobacco advertisements except for those indoors at the point of sale (PoS) (table 1). 3 Unfortunately it is unclear how many convenience stores are compliant with its provisions. View this table: Table 1 Compliance with Tobacco Advertising Legislation in 137 convenience stores, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2014 To investigate the compliance with the new restrictions, we surveyed all convenience stores (n=137) found in an 8 by 7 block area of Buenos Aires from July to August of 2014. This area was selected due …
A sensitive colorimetric DNA biosensor for specific detection of the HBV gene based on silver‐coated glass slide and G‐quadruplex‐hemin DNAzyme

A sensitive colorimetric DNA biosensor for specific detection of single stranded oligonucleotide (ssDNA) is proposed in this paper. The biosensor is based on silver‐coated glass (SCGS) and G‐quadruplex‐hemin DNAzyme. Capture DNA is immobilized on the surface of SCGS by Ag—S bond. Signal DNA can be used to hybridize with the target DNA which is selected from the Hepatitis B virus(HBV) gene as target HBV DNA, and the HRP‐mimicking G‐quadruplex‐hemin DNAzyme can be formed through the function of a guanine‐rich fragment from signal DNA to catalyze the oxidation of 2,2‐azinobis(3‐ethylbenzothiozoline)‐6‐sulfonicacid (ABTS2–) by H2O2. The reaction will be monitored along the side of absorbance changes at 418 nm and it can be viewed by naked eye with the change of color as well. Upon addition of target Hepatitis B virus(HBV) DNA, signal DNA could bind on the surface of SCGS, and the concentration of G‐quadruplex‐hemin DNAzyme immobilizing on the surface of SCGS is depended on that of target HBV DNA. Under the optimum conditions, the absorption was proportional to the concentration of target HBV DNA over the range from 0.5 to 100 nM, with a detection limit of 0.2 nM. In addition, the biosensor is target specific and practicability. This assay might open a new avenue for applying in the diagnosis of HBV disease in the future.
Psychiatric rehabilitation in Latin America: challenges and opportunities

Comprehensive psychiatric rehabilitation programs in Latin America have been designed across several countries in the region without yet achieving full implementation. Facing an increasing burden of disease due to mental disorders, including alcohol and substance use disorders, the region has responded unevenly to the challenge. Moreover, low priority for mental health in national policies and insufficient funding for mental health services are common barriers for the much-needed mental health services reforms. Reestablishing a primary care community-based model of care has been a shared aspiration for most countries during the last two decades. Comprehensive models of psychiatric rehabilitation developed predominantly in high-income countries need to be culturally adapted to local contexts, while strengthening health systems research will provide evidence on the efficiency of locally designed interventions and on the critical milestones to succeed in the scaling up strategies. Increasing participation of patients and their families in the mental health delivery system is another key factor in order to ensure comprehensive patient-centred psychosocial rehabilitation programs in Latin America.
The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test: an in-depth analysis of recall patterns

ABSTRACT One of the earliest signs of dementia is memory issues and verbal word lists, such as the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT), are successfully used for screening. To gain insight in how memory is affected in dementia, and to further improve the efficacy of the HVLT, in-depth analysis of the recall patterns of dementia cases and controls was conducted. Dementia cases and controls were matched for factors that can affect performance, such as age, gender and education level. Word frequency, syllable length, and orthographic neighbourhood size did not differ in the Indonesian version of the HVLT, nor did these characteristics affect recall. However dementia cases showed consistent and poor recall across the three trials; with the worst recall for the “human shelter” category and best recall for the “animals” category. Dementia cases also showed impaired accessibility of all categories with reduced subsequent recall from accessed categories and reduced primacy and recency levels. Finally, dementia cases exhibited lower levels of re-remembering and recalling new words, and higher levels of immediate forgetting and never recalling words. It was concluded that utilising the extra information provided by the in-depth analyses of the recall patterns could be beneficial to improve dementia screening.
A Conditional Inference Framework for Extending the Transmission/Disequilibrium Test

The transmission/disequilibrium test (TDT) of Terwilliger and Ott [Hum Hered 1992;42:337-346] and Spielman et al. [Am J Hum Genet 1993;52:506-516] is widely used to detect linkage and/or association between a genetically influenced disease and the alleles of a codominant marker locus. The TDT was specifically designed to avoid the spurious population associations produced by ethnic stratification of a sample of affected people. In this paper, we describe permutation extensions of the TDT that share this advantage. Our conditional inference framework permits extensions to multiple alleles, multiple loci, unaffected siblings, and genotypic rather than allelic associations. In the case of multiple loci, the conditional perspective provides a straightforward correction for multiple tests that can be substantially more powerful than the standard Bonferroni correction.
Low Leukocyte Contamination without Filtration by Preparation of Platelet Concentrates in Cylindrical Bags with the Buffy-Coat Method

Background and Objectives: The buffy-coat (BC) method for platelet concentrate (PC) preparation was modified in order to obtain leukodepleted PCs from single BCs without filtration. Materials and Methods: BCs were centrifuged in cylindrical BC bags and the optimal centrifugation conditions and optimal hematocrit were determined. Results: With optimal conditions, a tenfold lower leukocyte contamination was obtained compared with the conventionally shaped, wide BC bag (0.3 ± 0.19 versus 3.0 ± 1.71 × 106 leukocytes per unit; 85-ml BCs). The platelet yield obtained with the cylindrical bag did not differ significantly from the yield obtained with the conventional bag (56 ± 16.4 versus 61 ± 15 × 109 platelets per PC). Furthermore, when PCs were prepared from 100-ml BCs in cylindrical bags, a leukocyte contamination of 0.2 ± 0.11 × 106 and a platelet content of 61 ± 13.5 × 109 per PC were obtained. Conclusion: The use of cylindrical BC bags reduced the leukocyte contamination in PCs to a level required for leuko-depletion without affecting platelet recovery.
Comparative evaluation of mineral oil and natural ester impregnated cellulose using oil and paper conductivity

The paper mainly focuses on the condition monitoring of oil paper insulation using a macroscopic parameter that is conductivity. The polarization and depolarization currents are measured at various moisture contents and temperature. Then oil and paper conductivity are separately calculated and are plotted against various moisture contents and temperatures. On the basis of conductivity variations, conclusions are drawn such that they do fall in line with the established cellulose chemistry in mineral oil as well as in natural ester.
Suboptimal HIV Testing Uptake Among Men Who Engage in Commercial Sex Work with Men in Asia.

PURPOSE Men who have sex with men and are sex workers (MSMSW) are disproportionately affected by the growing and emerging HIV epidemic. As sex work and same-sex behavior are heavily stigmatized and often illegal in most Asian countries, HIV research focusing on MSMSW has been limited. The goal of this analysis is to examine HIV testing practices and identify correlates of HIV testing among MSMSW in Asia. METHODS The Asia Internet MSM Sex Survey, an online cross-sectional survey of 10,861 men who have sex with men (MSM), was conducted in 2010. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, HIV testing behaviors, and sexual behaviors were collected. Five hundred and seventy-four HIV-negative/unknown respondents reported receiving payment for sex with men at least once in the past 6 months and were included in this analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to identify independent correlates of HIV testing in the past year. RESULTS About half (48.6%) of the participants had been tested for HIV at least once within the past year, and 30.5% had never been tested. We also found that MSMSW participants who engaged in risky behaviors were less likely to be tested. CONCLUSION While one might expect a high HIV testing rate among MSMSW due to the risks associated with engaging in sex work, we found that HIV testing uptake is suboptimal among MSMSW in Asia. These results suggest that targeted HIV prevention and testing promotion among MSMSW are needed.
Alpha1-blocker therapy for lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic obstruction: what are the relevant differences in randomised controlled trials?

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) provide the best available external evidence for the use of alpha1-blockers in treating lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) suggestive of benign prostatic obstruction (BPO). Placebo-controlled and actively-controlled RCTs evidenced the efficacy of alpha1-blockers in augmenting urine flow, relieving symptoms, reducing bother and improving quality of life in patients with LUTS. This improvement involves both filling (irritative) and voiding (obstructive) symptoms, occurs promptly and is well-maintained over time. Treatment benefit is independent of prostate size and baseline prostate specific antigen (PSA). There is no evidence of relevant differences between the different alpha1-blockers in this regard and all alpha1-blockers can be accepted as appropriately efficacious at the presently recommended doses. The best available external evidence for relevant differential properties of alpha1-blockers relates to their clinical selectivity in terms of the absence/presence of ancillary cardiovascular, i.e. anti-hypertensive effects. Anti-hypertensive alpha1-blockers (terazosin and doxazosin in particular) are more likely to cause dizziness and other cardiovascular untoward effects, eventually leading to premature treatment discontinuation. Alfuzosin (although primarily developed as an anti-hypertensive agent) and tamsulosin in contrast, are better tolerated; the former nevertheless carries a more distinct risk of symptomatic impairment of blood pressure control. Although indirect comparisons between different studies suggest a higher risk of retrograde ejaculation with tamsulosin, this hypothesis failed to be confirmed in direct comparative RCTs.
Hyperspectral imaging for monitoring oxygen saturation levels during normothermic kidney perfusion

Abstract. The development of improved preservation techniques and the reliable assessment of donor grafts are main fields of research in transplantation medicine. Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) is a promising alternative to static cold storage of organs, maintaining physiological conditions during preservation. In combination with NMP, we introduce hyperspectral imaging (HSI) as a novel approach for the monitoring of physiological kidney parameters. A line-scan HSI camera system was used to record images of porcine kidneys during NMP. Based on a dual-wavelength algorithm, the oxygen saturation levels were calculated from HSI recordings. Furthermore, we observed HSI images in the near-infrared (NIR) range in order to detect water characteristics of the kidney tissue. We found increasing levels of oxygenation during NMP and could discriminate between perfused and non-perfused areas. Cysts at the renal capsula were characterized by an absorption increase in the NIR band. Within this work, we showed that HSI is able to detect relevant chemical changes during NMP and allows the identification of pathologic variations.