Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on Lung Functions in Patients with COPD

Background: The importance of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) as a therapeutic measure for COPD patients is well known. Objective: To evaluate the effects of PR program by pursed lip breathing (PLB) and diaphragmatic breathing (DB) on FVC, FEV 1 , FEV 1 /FVC ratio in male patients with moderate stable COPD. Methods: This prospective study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, BSMMU, Dhaka from July 2010 to June 2011 on 116 male stable moderate COPD patients aged 50 to 65 years. They were enrolled from the out patient department of the Department of Medicine of BSMMU and NIDCH Dhaka. They were grouped as control (56 patients without PR) and experimental (60 patients with PR). The experimental patients were advised to perform PR program for 30 minutes duration per session at home twice daily, for consecutive 60 days along with the standard drug treatment of COPD. On the contrary, the control patients were advised to continue their standard drug treatment alone for consecutive 60 days. For the assessment of spirometric lung function status, FVC, FEV 1 , FEV 1 /FVC ratio of all subjects were recorded on day 0 and day 60 for both the group by a portable digital MicroDL Spirometer and the statistical analysis was done by independent sample ‘t’ test and paired Student’s ‘t’ test. Results: FVC and FEV 1 value were significantly increased in comparison to the control patients after 60 days of follow up. On the other hand, post exercise value of FEV 1 /FVC ratio was decreased but it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The study reveals improvement of lung functions with this sort of combination of PR program in stable COPD patients. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/jbsp.v8i2. 18657 Bangladesh Soc Physiol. 2013, December; 8(2): 70-76
Fully automated monitoring system of health status in daily life

Fully automated monitoring system of health status in daily life used at a pilot house called "Welfare Techno House (WTH)" was designed. This system was integrated with three monitoring devices of (1) body and excreta weight in lavatory, (2) electrocardiogram (ECG) in bathtub and (3) ECG in bed without utilizing body surface electrodes in a non-conscious manner at the WTH. For the evaluation of automated health monitoring system, the authors tried a long-term and continuous measurement to monitor health parameters on young and elderly subjects without disturbing ordinary daily life.
Trends in Death Associated With Traumatic Brain Injury, 1979 Through 1992: Success and Failure

Objective. —To report updated national trends in traumatic brain injury deaths from 1979 through 1992. Design. —Retrospective analysis of Multiple Cause-of-Death Public Use Data Tapes from the National Center for Health Statistics. All deaths associated with traumatic brain injury were identified, the underlying causes of death were categorized, and the annual rates were calculated per 100 000 US residents. Patients. —Residents of the United States who died with traumatic brain injury from 1979 through 1992. Results. —An average of 52 000 US residents die each year with traumatic brain injuries. The brain injury—associated death rate declined 22% from 24.6 per 100 000 US residents in 1979 to 19.3 per 100000 US residents in 1992. Firearm-related rates increased 13% from 1984 through 1992, undermining a 25% decline in motor vehicle—related rates for the same period. Firearms surpassed motor vehicles as the largest single cause of death associated with traumatic brain injury in 1990. Conclusions. —These data highlight the success of efforts to prevent traumatic brain injury due to motor vehicles and failure to prevent such injuries due to firearms. The increasing importance of penetrating injury has important implications for research, treatment, and prevention of traumatic brain injury in the United States. (JAMA. 1995;273:1778-1780)
Living Conditions among People with Activity Limitations in Malawi. A National Representative Study

This research report provides results from the study on living conditions among people with disabilities in Zambia. Comparisons are made between individuals with and without disabilities and also between households with and without a disabled family member. Results obtained in Zambia are also compared to those obtained in earlier studies carried out in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. The Zambian study was undertaken in 2005-2006.
Letter from Australia: mental healthcare in Victoria

SummARy Mental health services in the state of Victoria, Australia, have undergone enormous change over the past 15 years, with the closure of all stand-alone psychiatric hospitals and a shift of resources and services into the community. Although successful overall, various areas cause concern, including pressure on acute beds, a paucity of alternative residential options, and suboptimal integration of government and non-government agencies concerned with the care of people with mental illnesses. Certain groups, notably those with complex symptom sets such as substance use and mental illness, intellectual disability and forensic problems, remain poorly catered for by the system. Finally, community stigma and lack of work inclusion for mentally ill individuals are ongoing challenges. DECLARATIOn Of InTEREST None.
Bee Venom-Associated Th1/Th2 Immunoglobulin Class Switching Results in Immune Tolerance of NZB/W F1 Murine Lupus Nephritis

Background/Aims: Bee venom (BV) therapy has been used to treat inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis in humans and in experimental animals. This study was conducted to examine the therapeutic effect of BV on established lupus nephritis in New Zealand Black/White (NZB/W) F1 female mice. Methods: Beginning at 18 weeks of age, mice were given a subcutaneous injection of either BV (3 mg/kg BW) or an equal volume of saline once a week until the end of the study. To examine the effect of BV on CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells, splenocytes from NZB/W mice (23 weeks of age) were treated with BV (1 µg/ml) or PBS in the presence of anti-CD3Ε (1 µg/ml) and anti-CD28 antibodies (4 µg/ml) for 48 h. Results: BV administration delayed the development of proteinuria to a significant extent, prevented renal inflammation, reduced tubular damage, and reduced immune deposits in the glomeruli. Interestingly, CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells were significantly increased in vitro and in vivo after BV treatment. Conclusion: Collectively, the administration of BV that has immune modulating effects represents an applicable treatment of lupus nephritis in NZB/W F1 mice.
Apert Syndrome: The Current Role of Prenatal Ultrasound and Genetic Analysis in Diagnosis and Counselling

Apert syndrome is a rare congenital malformation syndrome characterized by the triad of cutaneous and progressive bony syndactyly, midfacial hypoplasia and craniosynostosis. Two missense mutations of the gene encoding the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) have been implicated in most cases. We report a case of Apert syndrome detected on prenatal ultrasound. Postnatal genetic analysis showed, for the first time, that the previously reported P253R mutation of the FGFR2 gene is also prevalent in southeast Europe. After prenatal sonographic detection of anomalies suggestive of Apert syndrome, parents should be counselled about prognosis and risk of recurrence, and the option of amniocentesis should be offered.
Differential activity of ATR and WEE1 inhibitors in a highly sensitive subpopulation of DLBCL linked to replication stress.

DNA damage checkpoint kinases ATR and WEE1 are among key regulators of DNA damage response pathways protecting cells from replication stress, a hallmark of cancer that has potential to be exploited for therapeutic use. ATR and WEE1 inhibitors are in early clinical trials and success will require greater understanding of both their mechanism of action and biomarkers for patient selection. Here, we report selective anti-tumor activity of ATR and WEE1 inhibitors in a subset of non-Germinal Centre B-Cell (GCB) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cell lines, characterized by high MYC protein expression and CDKN2A/B deletion. Activity correlated with the induction of replication stress, indicated by increased origin firing and retardation of replication fork progression. However, ATR and WEE1 inhibitors caused different amounts of DNA damage and cell death in distinct phases of the cell cycle, underlying the increased potency observed with WEE1 inhibition. ATR inhibition caused DNA damage to manifest as 53BP1 nuclear bodies in daughter G1 cells leading to G1 arrest, whereas WEE1 inhibition caused DNA damage and arrest in S phase, leading to earlier onset apoptosis. In vivo xenograft DLBCL models confirmed differences in single agent anti-tumor activity, but also showed potential for effective ATR inhibitor combinations. Importantly, insights into the different inhibitor mechanisms may guide differentiated clinical development strategies aimed at exploiting specific vulnerabilities of tumor cells while maximizing therapeutic index. Our data therefore highlight clinical development opportunities for both ATR and WEE1 inhibitors in non-GCB DLBCL subtypes that represent an area of unmet clinical need.
Are children meeting any of the suggested daily step recommendations?

Summary Study aim: Over the past decade there have been numerous efforts to identify how many steps/day children should accumulate. Recommendations range from 10,000 to 16,500 steps/day. The purpose of this article was to examine the percentage of elementary school aged children meeting nine different sets of steps/day recommendations. Material and methods: 786 Southwestern US children (410 girls, BMI 19.3±4.2) wore the Yamax Digiwalker SW-200 pedometer and recorded their steps/day for 7 consecutive days. Mean steps/day was calculated and the percent-age of students meeting each of the various steps/day recommendations was determined. Results: Children averaged 11,113±3,666 steps/day. Sixty-one percent of all children met a minimum of 10,000 steps/day. Thirty-six percent met the most widely used recommendation of 11,000 and 13,000 steps/day for boys and girls, respectively. Using BMI referenced recommendations, between 10-52% of children met various guidelines. Conclusions: Southwestern US children in the current sample are not getting enough daily activity to meet the ma-jority of step recommendations. Findings suggest that less than 33% of children are active for 60 minutes of physical activity (inferred from one of the guidelines) a day and only 36% would qualify for the Presidential Active Life-styles Award. Additional school and home-based physical activity programming is clearly needed.
Total en bloc spondylectomy for spinal metastases in thyroid carcinoma.

OBJECT Thyroid carcinoma generally has a favorable prognosis, and patients rarely present with distant metastases. Authors of several studies have proposed piecemeal resection for spinal metastases in thyroid carcinoma; however, few have analyzed the impact of local curative surgery such as total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) for thyroid carcinoma. The purposes of the present study are to determine the strategy of surgical treatment for spinal metastases of thyroid carcinoma and to evaluate the surgical results of and the prognosis associated with TES. METHODS Twenty-four cases of spinal metastases were retrospectively reviewed. The patients included 16 women and 8 men, with a mean age of 60.7 years. Histological examination showed follicular carcinoma in 15 cases, papillary carcinoma in 8, and medullary carcinoma in 1. Total en bloc spondylectomy was performed in 10 cases; debulking surgery, such as piecemeal excision or eggshell curettage, was performed in 14. The average follow-up time was 55 months (12-180 months). RESULTS Four patients had no evidence of disease, 8 were alive with the disease, and 12 had died of the disease. The overall survival rate from the time of surgery was 74% at 5 years. Patients with visceral metastases had a significant, higher risk of death. The survival rate of patients following TES was 90% at 5 years, which was higher than the rate in patients who underwent debulking surgery (63%). However, no significant difference was observed between the 2 types of surgery. There was a local recurrence after debulking surgery in 8 (57%) of 14 cases. Because of the recurrences, reoperation was required after a mean of 41 months. In contrast, there was a local recurrence after TES in only 1 (10%) of 10 cases. The difference between debulking surgery and TES regarding local recurrence was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Total en bloc spondylectomy with enough of a margin provided favorable local control of spinal metastases of thyroid carcinoma during a patient's lifetime.
Attentional control in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE Attentional control, the ability to maintain goal-directedness in the face of distraction, has been shown to decline in normal aging (NA) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the nature and extent of deficits is under debate. This study investigated attentional control in NA and AD compared to healthy young adults in several tasks such as setting, suppressing, switching, and preparing attention. METHOD Fifty-two participants (17 AD, 17 NA, and 18 young participants) underwent the Tower of London, the Zoo map test, the Stroop test, letter verbal fluency, a computerized version of the Rule shift cards tests, the Trail making test, the Plus-minus test, and a reaction time task with variable preparatory intervals. RESULTS Analyses of variance showed that NA as compared to young participants were impaired in the Tower of London, the Stroop test, and the Rule shift cards tests. AD as compared to NA participants were impaired in all tests except the Stroop test. Principal component analysis in young adults confirmed the modularity of attentional tasks, which was reduced in NA and AD participants. Principal component analysis in all populations showed a decline of attentional control with NA and AD regardless of the tasks, with an increase in between-participants variability only between young and NA participants. CONCLUSIONS Attentional control dysfunction is different in NA and AD: NA affects suppressing attention, switching attention for unpredictable but not predictable events, and preparing attention for unpredictable events, whereas AD affects setting, suppressing, switching, and preparing attention with less specificity.
Intermediate inguinal ring

The purpose of this paper is to reintroduce the concept that the cremasteric muscle and fascie (intermediate spermatic covering) arise from an intermediate inguinal ring, similar to the internal spermatic fascia arising from the deep inguinal ring and the external spermatic fascia arising from the superficial inguinal ring. This will help students learn the anatomy of the inguinal region. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Brief communication (Original). Rapid diagnosis of trisomy 21 by relative gene copy using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction

Abstract Background: Trisomy 21 or Down syndrome (DS) is the most common aneuploidy disorder. Fetal karyotypic analysis remains the criterion standard for prenatal diagnosis of DS, although the method is time consuming and requires skilled personnel. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) can be used to determine a difference in the amount of gene copy by calculation of the difference between the cycle threshold (ΔCT) of a tested gene and a reference gene. Objectives: To develop a rapid qPCR diagnostic method for trisomy 21. Methods: Ten DS patients with the known karyotype of trisomy 21 were enrolled. Their parents were included as controls. D21S11 locus on chromosome 21 and SM locus on chromosome 16 from each subject were amplified by qPCR. The D21S11/SM ΔCT and 2-ΔΔCT values were compared between DS patients and their parents. Results: The D21S11/SM ΔCT values of the DS patients were higher than their respective controls except for one family. The mean 2-ΔΔCT value between patients and mothers was 1.88 ± 0.95 (95% CI 1.20-2.56), and between fathers and mothers as controls was 1.06 ± 0.68 (95% CI 0.58-1.54). Conclusion: The diagnostic method of trisomy 21 by using qPCR is feasible, although false negative results may occur. Using more index genes is recommended to increase the sensitivity and specificity.
Dementia and Residential Placement

The purpose of this research is to discover dementia carers’ lived experience when they have relinquished full-time care. It is assumed that once family members make a decision to relinquish full-time care, the stresses of day-to-day care-giving will be eliminated. Twenty primary caregivers from Aged Care/Aged Psychiatry Units in Melbourne were recruited through a consecutive sampling procedure to participate in the study. The Stress Process Model was utilized to explain why dementia caregiving is so stressful. A mixed-method research approach that consisted of qualitative and quantitative methodologies was utilized. In-depth interviews with caregivers revealed the difficult and stressful aspects of dementia caregiving while waiting for residential care. A majority of dementia care-givers had experienced both complex and traumatic admissions to the Aged/Psychiatric Inpatient Units. Carers felt alone in making the ‘most difficult’ decision to relinquish full-time care, and these carers experienced loss, sadness and resignation after having made this decision. Carers of Non-English Speaking Background had a compromised life satisfaction and poor psychological health. One-half of all caregivers who participated in the study were seen to be at risk of depression that would warrant professional intervention. Results that have not previously been reported in the dementia caregiving literature were the compromised life satisfaction and poor psychological health of carers from Non-English Speaking Background. The study concludes that social workers and other professionals need to become aware of the consequences of placement so that increased support can be offered to dementia caregivers during this difficult phase of caregiving. The practice implications include the identification of at risk carer groups and the need for appropriate supports for dementia caregivers at all stages of the caring process.
Anxiety Disorders in Adults: An Evidence-Based Approach to Psychological Treatment

This is the second book in Oxford's Guidebooks in Clinical Psychology series. This book provides practical guidelines on the treatment of anxiety disorders (the second most frequent clinical diagnosis), linking guidelines to empirical evidence. The authors review the several classifications of anxiety disorders using the latest DSM-IV categories, covering specific phobias, social phobia, panic disorder and agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among others. The chapters assess the efficacy of various treatments, and the authors conclude with a discussion of how treatment standards can be implemented in clinical training and practice.
Theory of mind in subjects with major depressive disorder: is it influenced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation?

Abstract Objectives. To assess, in a sample of subjects with current major depressive disorder, whether high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) is able to influence affective “theory of mind” (ToM). Methods. We conducted a pilot naturalistic trial in which 14 subjects with MDD were treated with daily HF-rTMS over their left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for 4 weeks. Objective depressive symptoms and affective ToM (as assessed, respectively, by the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test [RMET]) were measured pre-post HF-rTMS treatment. Results. Our findings indicated the absence of a significant main effect for pre-post RMET scores, yet a significant interaction between pre-post RMET performance and change in depressive symptoms. Therefore, depressed subjects in our sample exhibited ToM improvements in proportion to their antidepressant response. Conclusions. We have shown that HF-rTMS is able to influence ToM in subjects with MDD. We hypothesize that this effect could be associated, at least in part, with clinical improvement over time. However, further studies with larger samples and controlled designs are needed to better clarify our preliminary findings.
Effectiveness of field practical training for competence acquisition among students of Botswana College of Agriculture

Field practical training is a requirement for all students who enrol in any program in the Botswana College of Agriculture, as it has been discovered that, experiential learning complements theoretical classroom teaching. The effectiveness of Field Practical Training (FPT) for competence acquisition among students was examined through a descriptive survey. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 71 students out of those that participated in FPT in 2008 and data on their personal characteristics and their perceived competence of agricultural tasks before and after FPT were collected with a structured questionnaire and analysed using frequency counts percentages and t-test statistics. Results showed that a majority of the respondents were males, between the ages of 20 to 24 years and were pre-service students. The level of competence among students changed from not competent to competent in 31 out of the 47 tasks. Students also reported that they were competent before undergoing the FPT programme in 12 tasks and the rating was retained as well after FPT. On the other hand, students reported that they were not competent before and even after undergoing the FPT programme in four of the agricultural practical skills examined. The results of paired t-test showing comparison before and after FPT among students showed that, significant differences were found among 32 tasks with students having higher competence mean score after the FPT training than the score before the training. The study recommends that, established farms should be used for the programme and students should be posted to farms that will enhance their skill development for the area of the academic programme specialisation. Key words: Field practical training, agricultural tasks, experiential learning, skill acquisition, Botswana.
Clinical Evaluation of 360° and 180° Data Sampling Techniques for Transaxial SPECT Thallium-201 Myocardial Perfusion Imaging

The most serious controversy regarding the application of transaxial SPECT technology to /sup 201/Tl myocardial perfusion imaging is the choice between 360/sup 0/ compared with 180/sup 0/ data sampling techniques. The present study utilized the original 360/sup 0/ sampled raw data of 25 patients who had both SPECT /sup 201/Tl myocardial perfusion imaging and coronary angio/ventriculography for back projection reprocessing to accomplish the 360/sup 0//180/sup 0/ comparison. The results show a high incidence, 36% (9/25), of false-positive segmental perfusion abnormality and a high incidence, 24% (6/25), of moderate to severe degree of image distortion with the 180/sup 0/ data sampled reconstructed images. These were not observed in the 360/sup 0/ data sampled reconstructed images. The above findings confirmed our previous preliminary conclusion that even though the 180/sup 0/ data sampling technique has the advantage of providing improved image contrast and reduction in acquisition time it is not a reliable technique and should be abandoned.