Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What characterises professionalism in pharmacy students? A nominal group study

The adoption of behaviours, beliefs and values by undergraduate pharmacy students has been recognised as crucial to a students’ professional development. The objective of this study was to identify the attributes of professionalism relevant to pharmacy undergraduate students using the Nominal Group Technique. The group consisted of ten pharmacists purposefully selected from academia, hospital and community pharmacy and 30 potentially relevant attributes were generated at the group meeting. A follow up questionnaire was used to allow group members to rate each attribute on a four point scale and consensus was reached on 18 of the attributes. There was considerable overlap between the attributes of professionalism identified in this work and that identified in the literature on professionalism in medicine. Future work should focus on the development and validation of research tools to track the professionalism of pharmacy undergraduates throughout their course.
The Geriatric Functional Score Scale: A Preliminary Report on a Useful Tool for Assessing The Elderly

ABSTRACT Many functional scales used with the elederly are inadequate because they focus solely on physical functioning and were designed for younger adults who were orthopedically or neurologically impaired (e.g. the Katz, the Kenny). An appropriate assessment of the elderly's capabilities must include other components—mental functioning, tolerance and motivation, as well as physical functioning. A new assessment tool—the Geriatric Function Score Scale (G.F.S.S.) was developed for the elderly by Lowe (1984). It is an objective tool which examines physical, cognitive and motivational components of functioning and takes only 20 minutes to administer. The results of a preliminary study revealed that the score patients received on the G.F. S.S. was able to discriminate the level of placement (chronic care setting versus nursing home versus supervised setting, etc.) they would need upon discharge from the hospital. In addition, a positive conelation was found (r = .84) when comparing the G.F. S.S. with the Folstein Mini Mental Status Examination. RÉSUMÉ Plusieurs échelles fonctionnelles utilisées auprès des gens âgés sont inadéquates parce qu'elles se limitent strictement au fonctionnement physique et ont été conçues pour de jeunes adultes victimes de détérioration neurologique ou orthopédique (e.g. Katz, Kenny). Une évaluation juste des capacités des gens âgés se doit d'inclure d'autres éléments—le fonctionnement au niveaqu physique et intellectuel, la tolérance, et la motivation. Lowe (1984) a mis au point un nouvel instrument d'évaluation destiné aux personnes âgées—le Geriatric Functional Score Scale. Il s'agit d'un outil objectif qui examine l'aspect physique et intellectuel ainsi que la motivation au niveau du comportement et peut être administré en moins de 20 minutes. Selon les résultats d'une étude préliminaire, le score des patients soumis au G.F. S.S. a aidé à déterminer le genre de placement qui suffirait le mieux à leurs besoins après avoir quitté l'hôpital (soins chroniques, centre d'accueil ou établissement où il y a surveillance, etc.) De plus, une corrélation positive a été établie (r = .84) en comparant le G.F. S.S. au Folstein Mini Mental Status Examination.
What Do Experimental Models Teach Us About Comorbidities in Stroke?

There is a general consensus that animal models do not perfectly represent human conditions. This is not derived from any specific event, such as an ischemic episode, but rather reflects inherent differences in the physiology, anatomy, and metabolism among different species. Disparities among species also arise from differences in assessing functional recovery in stroke. Humans place a priority in regaining function in speech, cognition, and limb control, but these functions are not always readily translatable in animal models. Moreover, because functional recovery depends on the stroke type and location, induction of an ischemic lesion in a predefined area of an animal model, at best, reflects only a subtype of human stroke. Nevertheless, certain clinical pathophysiology features of stroke, such as acute outcomes and inflammatory/immune responses, are shared in animal models.1 Combined with complementary knowledge from in vitro studies, animal models can provide valuable insight into stroke pathology at a systems level. Analyses of translational inefficiencies in stroke model systems have led to the identification of underlying issues, which include, but are not limited to, rigor in experimental design, internal and external validity, negative bias, and insufficient statistical power. Together, these inefficiencies have steered collaborative international efforts in preclinical research to overcome these challenges.2 An additional issue of importance is the insufficient understanding of stroke pathophysiology beyond the acute phase and the primary reliance on infarct volume in reporting acute outcomes. Together with a lack of inclusion of comorbidities in animal models of stroke, the development of clinical protocols based on findings from normal metabolic animals may contribute to translational failures. In light of a recent concerted effort to address the future of translational stroke research,3 this review focuses on underlying translational issues and discusses insights gained from stroke models inclusive of comorbidities in the preclinical literature. ### Stroke Pathology: A Moving Target With Multiple Components Despite …
Automatic detection and inhibition of neutral and emotional stimuli in post-traumatic stress disorder: an eye-tracking study: eye-tracking data of an original antisaccade task

This research project addresses the understanding of attentional biases post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This psychiatric condition is mainly characterized by symptoms of intrusion (flashbacks), avoidance, alteration of arousal and reactivity (hypervigilance), and negative mood and cognitions persisting one month after the exposure of a traumatic event [American Psychiatric Association 2013]. Clinical observations as well as empirical research highlighted the symptom of hypervigilance as being central in the PTSD symptomatology, considering that other clinical features could be maintained by it [Ehlers and Clark 2000]. Attentional Control theory has described the hypervigilance in anxious disorders as the co-occurrence of two cognitive processes : an enhanced detection of threatening information followed by difficulties to inhibit their processing [Eysenck et al. 2007]. Nevertheless, attentional control theory has never been applied to PTSD. This project aims at providing cognitive evidence of hypervigilance symptoms in PTSD using eye-tracking during the realization of reliable Miyake tasks [Eysenck and Derakshan 2011]. Therefore, our first aim is to model the co-occurring processes of hypervigilance using eye-tracking technology. Indeed, behavioral measures (as reaction time) do not allow a clear representation of cognitive processes occurring subconsciously in a few milliseconds [Felmingham 2016]. Therefore, eye-tracking technology is essential in our studies. Secondly, we aim to analyze the differential impact of trauma-related stimulus vs negative stimuli on PTSD patients, by conducting scan paths following both of those stimuli presentation. This research project is divided into four studies. The first one will be described is this doctoral symposium.
Deferoxamine mesylate is toxic for retinal pigment epithelium cells in vitro, and its toxicity is mediated by p38

Deferoxamine mesylate is clinically used as a chelating agent but might induce retinopathy. To evaluate its effect on the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), porcine RPE cells were stimulated with deferoxamine. Cell death was assessed with trypan blue exclusion assay. To investigate the pathway of cell death, the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) Erk, JNK, and p38 were inhibited with U0126, SP600125, and SB203580, respectively. Their activity was determined by Western blot. Deferoxamine induces significant cell death in RPE cells, accompanied by phosphorylation of p38 and Erk. Inhibition of p38 attenuates cell death. In conclusion, deferoxamine is directly toxic on RPE cells, its toxicity depending on p38.
1618 Identification of Noxious Events for Newborn Infants with a Neural Network

Background Recognition of pain experienced by immature and/or critically ill newborn infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit remains a challenge despite the use of objective scoring systems that depend on physiological and behavioural parameters. We consider there is a need to identify pain using only physiological data streams. Methods Data were collected from three preterm male, gestational age 27.25±0.95 weeks (mean±SD), birth weight 941.25±189.31 grams. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), respiratory rate (RR), blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) were considered for the NN Input Vector. NN’s output were set to ‘1’ for noxious stimuli pattern (NSP) define as: HR≥160 AND MAP≥55 AND RR≥40 AND SpO2< < 901. Artifact events were captured in previous study2 and integrated with real-time physiological data streams. In this study we correlated the nociceptive event identified by NN with the artifact nociceptive event. Results Events ‘vascular access’ and ‘reintubation’ statistically coincide with the NSP defined in 100%. Event ‘routine care’ coincides in 52.67% with NSP. HR≥160 was evident in 24.6% of the event occurrence. The events were successfully identified by the NN, shown figure 1. Abstract 1618 Figure 1 Conclusion This study showed correlation of artifact nociceptive event with the physiological data streams NN patterns verifying a positive relation between nociceptive response and non-invasive physiological response. NN developed previously proved to be an accurate tool for deployment in a clinical decision support system. References Submitted to ESCTAIC 2012, Romania. 1st ACM International Health Informatics Symposium, 647–655.
Effect of Gastrointestinal Manifestations on Quality of Life in 87 Consecutive Patients with Systemic Sclerosis

Objective. To assess the effect of gastrointestinal (GI) manifestation on the quality of life in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods. The University of California, Los Angeles Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract 2 questionnaire was completed by 87 consecutive patients with SSc attending the scleroderma clinic at a single center. Their clinical features and current therapies were recorded; 100 patients with rheumatologic disorders other than SSc were used as controls. Individual scores were compared between SSc and controls, and between SSc subgroups. Results. Of 87 patients, 76 (90%) were women. Median age was 55 years and disease duration 105 months. Thirty-three (38%) had diffuse and 54 (62%) had limited SSc. Patients with SSc had a higher score than controls in all domains (p < 0.05). Numbers of patients who responded positively to individual questionnaire components are as follows: any GI symptom 86 (99%), reflux 77 (89%), distension 73 (84%), soilage 19 (22%), diarrhea 44 (51%), constipation 51 (59%), well-being 43 (49%), and social 43 (49%). There was no difference between the scores of patients with diffuse and limited disease subtypes. The use of calcium channel blockers did not significantly increase the constipation score (p = 0.99). Patients who responded positively to the reflux, distension, diarrhea, and constipation domains had lower scores in the well-being and social domains. Conclusion. GI manifestations, especially fecal incontinence (affecting 22% of patients), have a negative influence on the quality of life of patients with SSc. There was no difference between SSc disease subtypes.
Targeting strategies and nanocarriers in vaccines and therapeutics

In the past few decades, remarkable advances have been made in the field of immunology and molecular biology. Even though the efficacy level, protein binding capacity and other pharmacological parameters are extraordinary, formulations have become more challenging in terms of making drugs or antigens reach specific sites of action, the release rate of a drug at the site of action, proper presentation of an antigen by antigen-presenting cells or dendritic cells and other pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters of finished drug products and vaccines. The purpose of this review is to present a brief overview of the challenges to drug targeting, especially vaccines, as well as of different approaches designed to overcome these barriers.
Varicella-zoster virus glycoproteins B and E are major targets of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells reconstituting during zoster after allogeneic transplantation

Background After allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation patients are at increased risk for herpes zoster as long as varicella-zoster virus specific T-cell reconstitution is impaired. This study aimed to identify immunodominant varicella-zoster virus antigens that drive recovery of virus-specific T cells after transplantation. Design and Methods Antigens were purified from a varicella-zoster virus infected cell lysate by high-performance liquid chromatography and were identified by quantitative mass spectrometric analysis. To approximate in vivo immunogenicity for memory T cells, antigen preparations were consistently screened with ex vivo PBMC of varicella-zoster virus immune healthy individuals in sensitive interferon-γ ELISpot assays. Candidate virus antigens identified by the approach were genetically expressed in PBMC using electroporation of in vitro transcribed RNA encoding full-length proteins and were then analyzed for recognition by CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells. Results Varicella-zoster virus encoded glycoproteins B and E, and immediate early protein 62 were identified in immunoreactive lysate material. Predominant CD4+ T-cell reactivity to these proteins was observed in healthy virus carriers. Furthermore, longitudinal screening in allogeneic stem-cell transplantation patients showed strong expansions of memory T cells recognizing glycoproteins B and E after onset of herpes zoster, while immediate early protein 62 reactivity remained moderate. Reactivity to viral glycoproteins boosted by acute zoster was mediated by both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Conclusions Our data demonstrate that glycoproteins B and E are major targets of varicella-zoster virus specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell reconstitution occurring during herpes zoster after allogeneic stem-cell transplantation. Varicella-zoster virus glycoproteins B and E might form the basis for novel non-hazardous zoster subunit vaccines suitable for immunocompromised transplant patients.
Direct Identification of Streptococcus agalactiae in Vaginal Colonization in Pregnant Women Using Polymerase Chain Reaction

Background: Streptococcus agalactiae is a commensal organism, but it may cause infection in susceptible hosts including newborns as well as in pregnant or postpartum women. Applying rapid, accurate and sensitive methods for detecting group B Streptococcus (GBS) and receiving intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) at delivery have been demonstrated to increase the treatment possibility of carrier pregnant women and decrease the rates of GBS vertical transmission to infants. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the PCR assay results targeting 16S rRNA primers with the conventional culture method for direct detection of GBS in vaginal specimens of pregnant women at 35-37 weeks of gestation in Hamadan, Iran. Patients and Methods: A total of 203 vaginal specimens of pregnant women at 35-37 weeks of pregnancy from June 2013 through February 2014 were evaluated for detection of GBS, using culture method and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: The prevalence of GBS in the 203 collected samples was 7.39 using culture method and 19.70 using PCR. Twenty-five specimens had positive PCR results and negative cultures; two specimens were positive in culture and negative by PCR. A total of 42 specimens (20.69) were considered as true positive. The PCR results in comparison with culture (as the gold standard) revealed sensitivity of 88.24, specificity of 87.44, positive and negative predictive value of 35.71 and 98.95 respectively, and accuracy of 87.50. Conclusions: Performing only culture method led to missed false negative carriers. Therefore, it is recommended that both the PCR assay and conventional culture method be routinely performed to detect GBS in pregnant women accurately. PCR diagnosis demonstrated a shorter turnaround time when compared with the time consuming culture method.
Saliency Aggregation: Multifeature and Neighbor Based Salient Region Detection for Social Images

The popularity of social networks has brought the rapid growth of social images which have become an increasingly important image type. One of the most obvious attributes of social images is the tag. However, the sate-of-the-art methods fail to fully exploit the tag information for saliency detection. Thus this paper focuses on salient region detection of social images using both image appearance features and image tag cues. First, a deep convolution neural network is built, which considers both appearance features and tag features. Second, tag neighbor and appearance neighbor based saliency aggregation terms are added to the saliency model to enhance salient regions. The aggregation method is dependent on individual images and considers the performance gaps appropriately. Finally, we also have constructed a new large dataset of challenging social images and pixel-wise saliency annotations to promote further researches and evaluations of visual saliency models. Extensive experiments show that the proposed method performs well on not only the new dataset but also several state-of-the-art saliency datasets.
NFAT5 Is Protective Against Ischemic Acute Kidney Injury

NFAT5 is a transcription factor that protects the kidney from hypertonic stress and also is activated by hypoxia. We hypothesized that NFAT5 mitigates the extent of renal damage induced by ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI). Mice were subjected to IRI by unilateral clamping of the left renal pedicle for 30 minutes followed by reperfusion. After 3 hours of reperfusion, the level of NFAT5 mRNA was similar in contralateral and clamped kidneys. However, after 48 hours, NFAT5 mRNA accumulation increased ≈3-fold in both outer medulla and medullary thick ascending limb tubules. NFAT1 levels were elevated at 3 hours but did not increase further at 48 hours. Mice were then either pretreated for 72 hours with an intrarenal injection of a lentivirus short-hairpin RNA construct to silence NFAT5 (enhanced green fluorescent protein-U6-N5-ex8) or a control vector (enhanced green fluorescent protein-U6) before induction of IRI. Neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin and kidney ischemia molecule-1 mRNA levels increased after IRI and further increased after knockdown of NFAT5, suggesting that silencing of NFAT5 exacerbates renal damage during IRI. In contrast, silencing of NFAT1 had no effect on the levels of neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin or kidney ischemia molecule-1 mRNA. Hematoxylin and eosin staining revealed patchy denudation of renal epithelial cells and tubular dilation when NFAT5 was silenced. The number of TUNEL-positive cells in the outer and inner medulla of the clamped kidney increased nearly 2-fold after knockdown of NFAT5 and was associated with an increase in the number of caspase-3–positive cells. Collectively, the data suggest that NFAT5 is part of a protective mechanism that limits renal damage induced by IRI.
Enhancing Sink-Location Privacy in Wireless Sensor Networks through k-Anonymity

Due to the shared nature of wireless communication media, a powerful adversary can eavesdrop on the entire radio communication in the network and obtain the contextual communication statistics, for example, traffic volumes, transmitter locations, and so forth. Such information can reveal the location of the sink around which the data traffic exhibits distinctive patterns. To protect the sink-location privacy from a powerful adversary with a global view, we propose to achieve k-anonymity in the network so that at least k entities in the network are indistinguishable to the nodes around the sink with regard to communication statistics. Arranging the location of k entities is complex as it affects two conflicting goals: the routing energy cost and the achievable privacy level, and both goals are determined by a nonanalytic function. We model such a positioning problem as a nonlinearly constrained nonlinear optimization problem. To tackle it, we design a generic-algorithm-based quasi-optimal (GAQO) method that obtains quasi-optimal solutions at quadratic time. The obtained solutions closely approximate the optima with increasing privacy requirements. Furthermore, to solve k-anonymity sink-location problems more efficiently, we develop an artificial potential-based quasi-optimal (APQO) method that is of linear time complexity. Our extensive simulation results show that both algorithms can effectively find solutions hiding the sink among a large number of network nodes.
Cancer Pain Managment with a Venom of Blue Scorpion Endemic in Cuba, Called Rhopalurus Junceus " Escozul"

During the management of cancer pain sometimes patients ask for alternative, unusual, non recognized approaches. Last year we followed a cancer patient treated with an active substance that is the venom of blue scorpions endemic to Cuba, called Rhopalurus junceus "Escozul" that experienced an unexpected total pain relief with a good recovery of muscle strength, vital energy and capacity to cope with daily activities such as meal, walking and interacting with relatives and caregivers. Researchers' working on the blue scorpion venom published preliminary data online referring of postulate antitumoral activity in human tumors in vivo and analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative activities in experimental models in vitro and in vivo but unfortunately actual available clinical data are not results coming from recognized Randomized Controlled Trials supervised by appropriate IRB regulatory bodies but in a recent paper published on Toxicon in July 2011 Garcia-Gomez et al. describe the first general biochemical, molecular and functional characterization of the venom. What it is sure is this venom certainly warrant further investigation.
COLLAPSE‐SUBMERGENCE METHOD: SIMPLE COLONOSCOPIC TECHNIQUE COMBINING WATER INFUSION WITH COMPLETE AIR REMOVAL FROM THE RECTOSIGMOID COLON

Colonoscopy is a difficult examination to conduct for inexperienced examiners. In an attempt to improve the view, there is often a tendency to overinsufflate air, which causes elongation or acute angulations of the colon and makes passage of the scope difficult. Sakai et al. were the first to describe a simple colonoscopic technique using water infusion instead of air insufflation. We have modified this technique to simplify the procedure further by combining water infusion using disposable syringes with complete air suction from the rectum to the descending colon. With the resultant elimination of the boundary lines between water and air, a good view of the lumen is obtained though the transparent water. With the patient in the left lateral position, this procedure allows the water to flow straight down into the descending colon through the ‘collapsed’ lumen, and the scope to be easily negotiated through the straightened recto‐sigmoid colon and sigmoid‐descending colon junction with minimum discomfort. Measurements of the patients’ abdominal circumference during colonoscopy showed that colonic distension hardly occurred. Under supervision by the author, six complete novices were allowed to insert the colonoscope within 10 min by this method for one patient per week, as long as the patients did not complain of pain. The average trial number for the first cecal intubation within 10 min was 3.3, and the average success rate during the first 3 months was 58.6%. We believe that this ‘collapse‐submergence method’ is easy to master, even for inexperienced examiners.