Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pharmacogenetic considerations in the treatment of psychiatric disorders

Importance of the field: Despite continued efforts to optimize pharmacological treatment for individuals with psychiatric disorders, efficacy and tolerability of medication remains highly variable. In addition to clinical heterogeneity, diagnostic uncertainty, environmental, social factors, and genetic factors have been identified as playing an important role in the interindividual differences in therapeutic and toxic drug effects. Areas covered in this review: This article describes recent developments in the field of psychiatric pharmacogenetics and focuses on antidepressant, antipsychotic, anticonvulsant, and mood-stabilizing drugs. What the reader will gain: Recent findings from pharmacogenetic clinical trials are reviewed and clinical implications are discussed. Take home message: Although current data are too sparse to allow the development of guidelines for using pharmacogenetic testing in routine clinical practice, the field of psychiatric pharmacogenetics is rapidly developing and identification of genetic biomarkers that predict therapeutic response and risk of side effects will ultimately help the practitioner to choose effective and safe treatment for patients suffering from psychiatric disorders.
Creating Inclusive Excellence: A Model for Culturally Relevant Teacher Education

With the increasing cultural diversity in the nation’s public schools, scholars have argued the significance of Teacher Education (TE) programs that explicitly focus on issues of diversity across teacher development. Consequently, TE programs must consider: How do we prepare teachers to teach diverse populations of students successfully? As teacher educators, we are committed to supporting the effective preparation of teachers in meeting the needs of all students, but especially those students and teachers who occupy classrooms in urban settings. Therefore, we offer a model case study framed by culturally relevant pedagogy that describes our efforts to bridge the gaps between theory and practice. The purpose of this model, Creating Inclusive Excellence in Teacher Education is to provide strategies and actions for effectively meeting the needs of diverse learners. Keywords: culturally relevant teacher education, critical teacher reflection, teacher education
EFFECTS OF VITAMIN E AND ELECTRICAL STIMULATION ON THE DENERVATED RAT GASTROCNEMIUS MUSCLE MALONDIALDEHYDE AND GLUTATHIONE LEVELS

Effects of vitamin E treatment and local electrical stimulation on progression of atrophy in the denervated rat gastrocnemius muscle were studied. Denervation was performed by right leg sciatic nerve axotomy. Electrical stimulation (3-10 mA ms–1, 10 min per day for 7 days) was applied to the right gastrocnemius muscle starting from day 1 of denervation. The muscle samples were assayed for malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione levels, as well as the histological appearance after 8 days of denervation. MDA levels were markedly increased following denervation. However, electrical stimulation, vitamin E treatment (30 mg kg–1, i.m., everyday for 7 days), and combination of electrical stimulation and vitamin E treatment markedly reduced MDA levels. Glutathione levels were significantly decreased in the denervation group. Electrical stimulation, vitamin E treatment, and electrical stimulation plus vitamin E treatment prevented these reductions in glutathione levels. In the vitamin E treatment group, glutathione levels were markedly higher than in the control group. These results indicate that electrical stimulation and vitamin E treatment alone, or in combination, were able to prevent the effects of denervation on muscle atrophy
Trustworthy crowdsourcing via mobile social networks

Use ol social network services has been more widespread as mobile social network applications have been developed for smart phones. Besides, smart phone sensing, namely Sensing-as-a-Service (S2aaS) provides the front-edge access to the cloud-centric Internet of Things. S2aaS can provide crowdsourced data for several purposes such as public safety, crowd management and environment monitoring. Trustworthiness of crowdsourced data is an important challenge in S2aaS as maliciously altered data can be misleading for the S2aaS customer. Reputation-aware crowdsourcing schemes can address trustworthiness problem however smart phone users moving based on a social network mobility (SNM) model introduce further challenges. In this paper, we propose reputation-and-SNM-aware crowdsourcing scheme which is based on an auction executed at a cloud platform. The cloud platform aims at maximum utility by estimating users' future locations based on their interactions over the social network service so that efficient user-sensing task matching can be done. Furthermore, past and current reputation of the users are taken into account while recruiting smart phone users for given sensing tasks. Our simulations show that reputation-awareness accompanied with SNM-awareness can significantly increase the platform utility by up to 55%. Furthermore, incorporation of reputation-awareness can degrade disinformation probability by more than 70%.
RBC‐Y/MCV as a discriminant function for differentiating carriers of thalassaemia and HbE from iron deficiency

Individuals with α‐thalassaemia (ATT), β‐thalassaemia (BTT) and HbE trait (HET) are often initially identified based on haematological parameters. However, the values of these parameters usually overlap with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and anaemia of chronic disease (ACD). We evaluated the use of RBC‐Y in 156 normal individuals and 332 patients; ATT (n = 37), BTT (n = 61), HET (n = 25), HbH disease (n = 5), ACD (n = 67), IDA (n = 83) and ACD with IDA (n = 54). Diagnostic efficiency was analysed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC). MCH was better compared with RBC‐Y in discriminating normal from abnormal with sensitivity and specificity of 94% at a cut‐off of 26 pg. The Green and King (G&K) index performed the best in discriminating carriers from IDA and ACD with area under the ROC curve (AUCROC) of 0.81. However, if ACD was excluded, RBC‐Y/MCV was a good discriminator for carriers from IDA with AUCROC = 0.845. In general screening of populations with ATT, BTT and HET, we propose that hypochromic individuals be first identified by MCH <26 pg and carriers distinguished within these hypochromic individuals from IDA by using RBC‐Y/MCV. However, if the prevalence of ACD were high within the screening population, G&K index would be a more suitable discriminator.
Factors influencing the fracture of nickel-titanium rotary instruments.

AIM To evaluate the effect of rotational speed and the angle and radius of curvature of root canals on the fracture of two types of nickel-titanium rotary instruments: K3 and ProTaper. METHODOLOGY A total of 240 root canals of extracted human maxillary and mandibular molars were divided into two groups of 120, according to the angle of the canal curvature (group A: <30 degrees, group B: >30 degrees). Each group was then divided into two subgroups of 60 canals in order to perform instrumentation using K3 and ProTaper rotary instruments at three different rotational speeds: 150, 250 and 350 r.p.m. (20 canals at each rotational speed). Each instrument was used a maximum of 20 times and at one rotational speed only. The angle and radius of canal curvature were measured in the only group in which fractures actually took place (group B). RESULTS There were a total of 22 instrument fractures; all of these occurred in canals with curves >30 degree. In a multivariate analysis, it was demonstrated that the files used at a rotational speed of 350 r.p.m. were more likely to fracture than those used at 250 r.p.m. (OR: 1113.88; 95% CI: 2.36-526420.05) and than those used at 150 r.p.m. (OR: 13531.33; 95% CI: 5.37-34120254.00). A decrease in the angle of curvature of the canal also significantly reduced the likelihood of fracture (OR: 0.2083; 95% CI: 0.068-0.6502). These relationships remained significant after being adjusted for the potential interactions between the remaining variables. No significant differences were found between the files or the radii of the canals. CONCLUSIONS Instrument fracture was associated with rotational speed and the angle of curvature of the canal.
National health workforce regulation: Contextualising the Australian scheme

Purpose In 2010, Australia introduced the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the health professions (the Australian scheme) creating a legislative framework for a national system of health workforce regulation, delivering a model of collective (and multi-level) government involvement in regulatory activities. The purpose of this paper is to examine how its governance arrangement compares to different national systems and other health regulatory bodies in Australia. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative case study is informed by documentary analysis in conjunction with policy mapping. This is part of a larger project investigating the policy pathway which led to establishment of the Scheme. The authors compare the Scheme with other Australian health standard setting and regulatory bodies. Findings The Australian scheme’s governance model supported existing constitutional arrangements, and enabled local variations. This facilitated the enduring interest of ministers (and governments) on matters of health workforce and articulated the activities of the new regulatory player. It maintains involvement of the six states and two territories, with the Commonwealth Government, and profession-specific boards and accreditation agencies. This resulted in a unique governance framework delivering a new model of collective ministerial responsibility. The governance design is complex, but forges a new way to embed existing constitutional arrangements within a tripartite arrangement that also delivers National Boards specific to individual health professions and an organisation to administer regulatory activities. Originality/value This study demonstrates that effective design of governance arrangements for regulatory bodies needs to address regulatory tasks to be undertaken as well as the existing roles, and ongoing interests of governments in participating in those regulatory activities. It highlights that a unique arrangement, while appearing problematic in theory may in practice deliver intended regulatory outcomes.
Prevalence and pattern of congenital heart disease in Hazara.

BACKGROUND The incidence and particularly the pattern of congenital heart disease may vary in different geographical locations, but the extent to which such reported variations are attributable to differences in genetic predisposition, environmental factors, or in study methodology and diagnostic precision remains uncertain. There is, therefore, a continuing need for studies on various aspects of congenital heart disease, in different communities and races. METHODS This study was done on 188 consecutive cardiac patients reporting at Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, Pakistan from June 1998 to June 2000. RESULTS 114 of 188 cardiac patients studied had congenital heart disease. Both sexes were equally affected. Ventricular septal defects were the most common lesions (relative frequency 61.4%), followed by Tetrology of Fallots, ASD and PDA with a relative frequency of 8.77%. The detection rate under one month was 28.07% and at one year 75.43%. CONCLUSION There is therefore, a need for increased awareness, especially among primary health and other front line doctors for earlier case detection.
Computerized decision support system improves fluid resuscitation following severe burns: An original study*

Objective:Several formulas have been developed to guide resuscitation in severely burned patients during the initial 48 hrs after injury. These approaches require manual titration of fluid that may result in human error during this process and lead to suboptimal outcomes. The goal of this study was to analyze the efficacy of a computerized open-loop decision support system for burn resuscitation compared to historical controls. Design:Fluid infusion rates and urinary output from 39 severely burned patients with >20% total body surface area burns were recorded upon admission (Model group). A fluid-response model based on these data was developed and incorporated into a computerized open-loop algorithm and computer decision support system. The computer decision support system was used to resuscitate 32 subsequent patients with severe burns (computer decision support system group) and compared with the Model group. Setting:Burn intensive care unit of a metropolitan Level 1 Trauma center. Patients:Acute burn patients with >20% total body surface area requiring active fluid resuscitation during the initial 24 to 48 hours after burn. Measurements and Main Results:We found no significant difference between the Model and computer decision support system groups in age, total body surface area, or injury mechanism. Total crystalloid volume during the first 48 hrs post burn, total crystalloid intensive care unit volume, and initial 24-hr crystalloid intensive care unit volume were all lower in the computer decision support system group. Infused volume per kilogram body weight (mL/kg) and per percentage burn (mL/kg/total body surface area) were also lower for the computer decision support system group. The number of patients who met hourly urinary output goals was higher in the computer decision support system group. Conclusions:Implementation of a computer decision support system for burn resuscitation in the intensive care unit resulted in improved fluid management of severely burned patients. All measures of crystalloid fluid volume were reduced while patients were maintained within urinary output targets a higher percentage of the time. The addition of computer decision support system technology improved patient care.
Prevalence of targetable oncogenic mutations and genomic alterations in Epstein–Barr virus-associated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the elderly

Abstract Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-associated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the elderly constitutes a provisional clinicopathological entity in the current World Health Organization (WHO) classification and its genomic features remain sparsely characterized. We investigated a cohort of 26 cases of untreated de novo EBV-positive DLBCL of the elderly by high-resolution array-based comparative genomic profiling and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Moreover, we screened for activating mutations affecting nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway signaling and chromatin remodeling (EZH2, CD79B, CARD11 and MYD88) due to their impact of gene expression signatures and postulated upcoming therapeutic targetability. We identified an overlap between genomic aberrations previously described to be exclusive features of plasmablastic lymphoma (PL), post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) and DLBCL, respectively, indicating a close cytogenetic relationship between these entities. Few mutations affecting CD79B and CARD11 and no MYD88 mutations were detectable, hinting at EBV-mediated activation of NF-κB as an alternative to pathologically enforced B-cell receptor signaling in this rare entity.
Psychiatric comorbidities in epilepsy

Abstract Psychiatric comorbidities, including mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders, are common in epilepsy, often occurring at rates 2–3-fold or higher than in the general population without epilepsy. This article discusses the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders in epilepsy, hypotheses regarding the pathogenesis of these comorbidities, and treatment implications. More specifically, it addresses: (1) How common are major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and psychotic disorders in epilepsy? (2) How does one screen for these psychiatric disorders in persons with epilepsy? (3) Why do psychiatric conditions occur in epilepsy? (4) Is the treatment of psychiatric comorbidity in epilepsy associated with seizures? The important topic of suicide and suicidal ideation in epilepsy, risk factors for their occurrence, and how to screen for these co-existent conditions is also discussed. Finally, gaps in knowledge regarding psychiatric conditions in epilepsy are briefly discussed.
Hyperhomocysteinemia recurrence in levodopa‐treated Parkinson’s disease patients

Background: Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and chronically treated with L‐DOPA exhibit, in a percentage of 10–30%, supra‐physiological levels of plasma total homocysteinemia (tHcy). In this study, we have investigated, in a group of hyper‐homocysteinemic PD patients, the time of hyper‐tHcy recurrence after discontinuation of 1‐month folate supplementation given to normalize plasma tHcy levels.
Analysis of Hearing and Tinnitus in Workers Exposed to Occupational Noise.

INTRODUCTION Noise is one of the harmful agents to health that is present in the various branches of economic activity. Hearing loss and tinnitus are among the most frequently reported complaints by workers exposed to occupational noise. OBJECTIVE To analyze the hearing and tinnitus in normal-hearing workers exposed to occupational noise. METHODS This is a cross-sectional analytical trial in metallurgical industries, in which we evaluated normal-hearing workers through anamnesis, audiometry and otoacoustic emissions. RESULTS It was observed high prevalence of failure of otoacoustic emissions (40%) and tinnitus (66.6%). Both in the amplitude and in the signal-to-noise ratio, the higher is the frequency of the sound, the worse the results. Despite having audiometry within normal limits, the results indicate that workers are suffering the effects of exposure and reveals association between failure of otoacoustic emissions and tinnitus in this population (X2 = 6,732). CONCLUSION It is concluded that failures in DPOAE and tinnitus are predictors of hearing damage in normal-hearing workers.
Relation between insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations, osteoarthritis, bone density, and fractures in the general population: the Chingford study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1) concentrations and osteoarthritis, and bone mineral density, and fractures in a large group of middle aged women from the general population. METHODS: 761 women aged 44-64 years from the Chingford study had serum IGF-I concentrations measured; hand, hip, spine, and anteroposterior weight bearing knee radiographs taken; and dual energy x ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans of the hip and spine. X rays were scored using the Kellgren and Lawrence system. In addition knee x rays were scored using a standard atlas for individual features of osteophytes and joint space narrowing (both graded 0-3). IGF-I concentrations were adjusted for the effects of age. RESULTS: In the osteoarthritis analysis results were compared to a constant group of 155 subjects with no evidence of osteoarthritis at any site. There was no significant difference in serum IGF-I between these subjects and 606 subjects with osteoarthritis at any site. When individual sites were analysed, serum IGF-I was higher in those cases with more severe bilateral knee osteoarthritis and in those with distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint disease. There was no significant association between serum IGF-I and other forms of osteoarthritis or milder forms of knee osteoarthritis. There was no correlation between IGF-I concentrations and bone mineral density at the spine or hip, nor any difference between IGF-I concentrations in subjects with and without a history of non-traumatic fracture [22.8 (SD 6.6) v 23.1 (SD 6.6) nmol litre-1, P = 0.6] CONCLUSIONS: There is a modest association between IGF-I concentrations and the development of DIP osteoarthritis and more severe or bilateral knee joint osteoarthritis in women from the normal population, but no association with other forms of osteoarthritis, bone density, or fractures.
Diagnostic accuracy of periapical radiography and cone beam computed tomography in detecting apical periodontitis using histopathological findings as a reference standard

AIM To compare the diagnostic accuracy of periapical radiography (PR) and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in detecting apical periodontitis (AP) using histopathological findings as a reference standard. METHODOLOGY Jaw sections containing 67 teeth (86 roots) were collected from unclaimed bodies due for cremation. Imaging was carried out to detect AP by digital PR with a central view (DP group), digital PR combining central with 10˚ mesially and distally angled (parallax) views (DPS group) and CBCT scans. All specimens underwent histopathological examination to confirm the diagnosis of AP. Sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of PR and CBCT were analysed using rater mean (n = 5). Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was carried out. RESULTS Sensitivity was 0.27, 0.38 and 0.89 for DP, DPS and CBCT scans, respectively. CBCT had specificity and positive predictive value of 1.0 whilst DP and DPS had specificity and positive predictive value of 0.99. The negative predictive value was 0.39, 0.44 and 0.81 for DP, DPS and CBCT scans, respectively. Area under the curve (AUC) for the various imaging methods was 0.629 (DP), 0.688 (DPS), and 0.943 (CBCT). CONCLUSIONS All imaging techniques had similar specificity and positive predictive values. Additional parallax views increased the diagnostic accuracy of PR. CBCT had significantly higher diagnostic accuracy in detecting AP compared to PR, using human histopathological findings as a reference standard.
Microtubule motors: moving forward on many fronts

Microtubule motors drive the movement of many different cargoes in eukaryotic cells. A combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches has led to a better understanding of their mechanism of action and function and are also revealing that the microtubule track itself may have an important role to play in directing cargo movement within the cell.
Towards the development of a citizen-centric framework for evaluating the impact of eGovernment: A case study of developing countries

eGovernment has emerged as one of the innovative ways of providing information and delivering services to citizens. It is providing governments with new opportunities of bringing services closer to the citizen in cost-effective, efficient and transparent ways. In spite of the implementation of e-government, there is little research that has been conducted in the context of developing countries to benchmark and appraise the impact of e-government on the target groups. Assessment of impact is important to justify public fund expenditure and inform future projects. Most studies on assessment of e-government have been done in developed countries where the context is different from that of developing countries. Therefore, there is need to develop frameworks that are suitable in the context of developing countries. Studies on assessing impact have been done at macro, meso and micro levels. These studies are largely based on supply-side and a few on demand-side with little focus on outcomes and impact. In this paper, we perform an analysis of various proposed e-government assessment frameworks with the aim of identifying and recommending the adoption of a framework that is suitable in the context of a developing country. We propose the adoption of a hybrid framework that amalgamates the frameworks developed by Bhatnagar and Singh and Verdegem et al due to their contextual suitability and citizen-centric approach. This is an exploratory study that lays foundation for further research in the development of an appropriate framework using the proposed approach.