Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of pedometer use on physical activity and body weight in obese women

Abstract Physical activity and healthy eating are of the utmost importance in treatment of obesity. However obese generally tend to have a sedentary lifestyle. Walking is a form of physical activity that is both simple and can be performed by everyone, but it requires an objective measurement. Number of steps taken during tracking can be recorded with the pedometer, a device used to measure the level of physical activity. We aimed to investigate whether or not using pedometers as a motivational technique to increase the level of physical activity in obese women has an impact on weight loss. Eighty-four obese women who are similar age referring to Ataturk University Faculty of Medicine Healthy Living Clinic, Turkey were randomly divided into two groups. Intervention group were given pedometers, and control group were prescribed similar diet and physical activity with a three-month follow-up plan without pedometers. Mean weight in pedometer group initially was 88.9 ± 8.4 kg, which decreased to 80.2 ± 8.7 kg after the programme. Mean weight in control group was 86.1 ± 9.2 kg at the beginning, and it decreased to 84.7 ± 8.8 kg after three months. It was observed in pedometer group that the mean number of steps 8817 ± 2725 steps/day at the beginning increased to mean 9716 ± 2811 steps/day at the end of the study. Weight, body mass index, body fat percentage and waist circumference measurements decreased more greatly in the pedometer when compared to the control group (p < 0.001). Pedometers may be recommended to obese patients to monitor and increase the level of physical activity and to promote weight loss.
Host specificity of Salmonella infection in chickens and mice is expressed in vivo primarily at the level of the reticuloendothelial system

By experimental infection, host-specific Salmonella serotypes were shown to demonstrate specificities for chickens, mice, and other laboratory animals. Following oral inoculation, four strains of Salmonella gallinarum and two S. pullorum strains, isolated from diseased poultry, were more virulent for chickens than for mice. By contrast, four strains each of S. choleraesuis and S. dublin, isolated from diseased pigs and cattle, respectively, were more virulent for mice than for chickens. These results were also reflected in the degree of virulence expressed after parenteral inoculation. In addition, S. choleraesuis, but not other serotypes, killed rats, guinea pigs, and rabbits. S. typhimurium strains varied widely in their virulence, and some strains were virulent for both mice and chickens. Four other serotypes isolated from poultry or human food poisoning cases and a nonpathogenic Escherichia coli strain were much less virulent for both experimental host species. Most of the host-specific Salmonella serotypes studied were able to colonize the distal alimentary tract and invade the tissues in both mice and chickens to various degrees. There was, however, a greater difference in the ability to survive and multiply in the visceral organs, particularly the spleen and the liver, once invasion had occurred which correlated with the virulence for the host species involved.
Orthostatic hypotension and mortality risk: a meta-analysis of cohort studies

Context Orthostatic hypotension (OH) has been found to be related to increased risk of mortality, although results of previous cohort studies were not always consistent. Objective The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the association between OH and mortality risk. Data source Medline, Embase and references cited in related reviews and studies. Study selection Cohort studies evaluating the association between OH and mortality risk were identified. Data extraction Two investigators read all papers and extracted all relevant information. Results A total of 56 125 subjects with 11 580 mortality cases from nine cohorts were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled results indicated that the presence of OH at baseline was significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted risk ratio (RR) = 1.40, p<0.001). Subgroup analysis suggested that the association between OH and all-cause mortality was less strong for the studies in which classic risk factors were adequately adjusted compared with those in which they were not adequately controlled. In addition, although our meta-analysis failed to reveal a significant association between OH and cardiovascular (CV) mortality (RR=1.20, p=0.47), we did find that subjects with OH had an increased risk of non-CV mortality (RR=1.18, p=0.05). Conclusions The presence of OH is associated with a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality, which may partially be mediated by classic risk factors. Further research is needed to determine whether the association between OH and mortality risk is causal.
Extracción de Reglas de Asociación en una Base de Datos Clínicos de Pacientes con Vih/Sida

En la actualidad, las personas infectadas por el VIH con acceso a tratamiento retrasan indefinidamente su entrada en la fase SIDA de la enfermedad, convirtiendose en pacientes cronicos. Un mayor conocimiento del comportamiento del virus y de como afecta a las personas infectadas podria conducirnos a optimizar el tratamiento y con ello mejorar la calidad de vida de los pacientes. En este contexto aparece la mineria de datos, un conjunto de metodologias que, aplicadas a grandes bases de datos, nos permiten obtener informacion novedosa y potencialmente util oculta en ellas. Este trabajo de investigacion realiza una primera aproximacion al problema mediante la busqueda de asociaciones en una base de datos en la que se registran las historias clinicas electronicas de personas infectadas que son tratadas en el Hospital Clinic de Barcelona.
VEGF165b, an endogenous C-terminal splice variant of VEGF, inhibits retinal neovascularization in mice.

PURPOSE Hypoxia driven ocular angiogenesis occurs in a range of ischemic retinopathies including proliferative diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity. These conditions are initiated and sustained by hypoxia dependent vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in the eye. There are two families of VEGF isoforms formed by differential splicing, the pro-angiogenic VEGF family, known to contribute to ocular neovascularization, and the anti-angiogenic VEGF family, which are downregulated in diabetic retinopathy in humans. The first member of the VEGF family to be isolated was VEGF165b. To determine whether VEGF165b could inhibit hypoxia driven angiogenesis in the eye, the oxygen induced retinopathy mouse model of ocular neovascularization was used. METHODS 1 ng of recombinant human VEGF165b peptide was injected intraocularly upon return to normoxia after 5 days exposure to 95% oxygen, and neovascularization assessed. RESULTS VEGF165b significantly inhibited the percentage area of retinal neovascularization from 23+/-3% to 12+/-3.3%, and significantly increased normal vascular areas from 62+/-4% to 74+/-4%. The percentage area of residual ischemic retina was not affected. CONCLUSIONS These results show that a single injection of VEGF165b can significantly reduce preretinal neovascularization without inhibition of physiological intraretinal angiogenesis. Controlling the balance of VEGF(xxx) to VEGF(xxx) isoforms may therefore be therapeutically valuable in the treatment of proliferative eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age related macular degeneration. The regulation of splicing between these two families of isoforms may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for proliferative eye disease.
Analysis of surface wind over complex terrain: a dynamical downscaling study with the WRF model

El objetivo principal de este trabajo es analizar la capacidad del modelo mesoscalar para la investigacion y prediccion del tiempo (WRF, Skamarock et al., 2005) de reproducir la variabilidad y la climatologia de las circulaciones superficiales en una zona de terreno complejo. Para ello se ha realizado una simulacion en alta resolucion espacial que cubre un intervalo temporal de trece anos. El analisis se lleva a cabo con medias diarias del viento. Esta decision filtra parcialmente los efectos asociados con forzamientos termicos, y permite centrar el estudio en la influencia de los forzamientos dinamicos asociados a la interaccion de la dinamica atmosferica a escala sinoptica con la orografia regional. Para proporcionar una evaluacion adecuada es necesario entender el comportamiento del viento sobre la zona. Por lo tanto, este trabajo analiza primero la variabilidad y la climatologia del viento en superficie con observaciones in situ para seguidamente analizar la habilidad de la simulacion numerica en reproducir el comportamiento del viento observado. Con este proposito, los analisis realizados con las observaciones estan orientados a entender las circulaciones superficiales sobre la zona de estudio y a la vez proporcionar un marco adecuado para la evaluacion. Por tanto, hay dos objetivos parciales en la Tesis: i) analizar la variabilidad y climatologia del viento superficial en una zona de terreno complejo y ii) ii) evaluar la capacidad de reproducir el comportamiento observado mediante una simulacion regional realizada con el modelo WRF. El area de estudio seleccionada es la Comunidad Foral de Navarra (CFN), una region de terreno complejo situada en el noreste de la Peninsula Iberica (IP, Fig. 1.2). La CFN se caracteriza por sus altas velocidades de viento que han favorecido la instalacion de numerosos parques eolicos sobre la zona en los ultimos anos (Fairless, 2007; Garcia-Bustamante et al., 2008, 2009). La CFN tiene una red de estaciones meteorologicas razonablemente densa con observaciones de viento disponibles desde 1992 lo que ha permitido llevar a cabo varios analisis del viento en la zona (Garcia et al., 1998; Torres et al., 1999, 2005; Jimenez et al., 2008, 2009b). Dada la existencia de una orografia relativamente compleja y una buena red de observaciones, la CFN constituye un area interesante para evaluar la capacidad de reproducir el viento en superficie mediante simulaciones regionales.
EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FOR MITOCHONDRIAL DNA INTROGRESSION BETWEEN DROSOPHILA SPECIES

Differential introgression of mitochondrial genomes has been used to explain the occurrence in some species of individuals bearing mtDNA from a related species. This situation has been observed for Drosophila mauritiana (endemic to Mauritius) where a high proportion of individuals (88%) carries an mtDNA also found in D. simulans populations from Madagascar and Réunion. Using these two species, experiments were carried out to test for differential mtDNA introgression. A single virgin female from one species (initial frequency 0.03) was introduced into a population of the other. D. simulans mtDNA can, within three generations, almost entirely displace (frequency up to 0.80) D. mauritiana mtDNA. Hybrid male sterility probably curtails to a large degree parallel introgression of nuclear genes. The progress of cytoplasmic introgression is dependent on the degree of inbreeding of the recipient D. mauritiana strains. In reciprocal experiments, introgression was much less likely: few D. mauritiana migrant females are inseminated and their mtDNA frequency always remains very low. The results of these experiments support the hypothesis that a selective advantage of hybrids (probably at the nuclear level) has promoted mtDNA transfer from D. simulans Madagascar or Reunion populations into D. mauritiana through introgressive hybridization.
Implementation of the Three Rs in Biomedical Research —Has the Turn of the Century Turned the Tide?

There has been increasing pressure from the public against animal experimentation for testing and research purposes. The Three Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) principle is thought to be a key foundation concept in optimising the welfare of animals used in experiments. This retrospective study attempts to investigate the transition of the Three Rs in biomedical research through a review of articles published in Nature Medicine. We categorised all of the articles published in Nature Medicine from 1998 to 2003, on the basis of the pain and distress of the animals used in the experiments featured in the analysed article. We found there were no large fluctuations in the distribution of these categories over this time period. We also examined each article for the presence of a statement relating to the humane use of laboratory animals, and found that the number of articles which included such a statement dramatically increased in 2002. Over the years studied, there was a decreasing trend in the total number of animal types used for the experiments in the articles. Our results suggest that: a) more encouragement by journal editors might improve the attitude of scientists in terms of animal welfare; and b) the progress of replacement appears to be a more long-term effort in the field of biomedical research.
Long‐term infusion of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) improves renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate in clinical acute renal failure

Background: Short‐term infusion of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) increases renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in patients with acute renal dysfunction. In the present study we evaluated the effects of long‐term infusion (>48 h) of ANP on (RBF) and (GFR) in 11 postcardiac surgical patients requiring pharmacological circulatory support and with acute renal impairment.
Deficit of Executive Functions in Schizophrenia: Relationship to Neurological Soft Signs and Psychopathology

Cognitive deficits and neurological soft signs (NSS) have frequently been reported in schizophrenic patients and they both appear related to prominent negative symptoms. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between deficit of executive functioning, assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), NSS and psychopathological dimensions of schizophrenia in order to address the issue of whether a typology of schizophrenic patients may be identifiable by clinical, neurological and neuropsychological features. A sample of 26 male schizophrenic patients was divided, on the basis of the performance on the WCST, into two subgroups (‘good performers’ and ‘poor performers’) that were compared for the prevalence and severity of NSS, assessed by the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES), and for the psychopathological features, assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). To test for between-group differences, ANOVA was conducted. The ‘poor performers’ group showed greater severity of NSS: significant differences emerged for the NES total score and for the ‘sequencing of complex motor acts’ score. However, no significant differences between the groups emerged for any PANSS score. These findings seem to indicate that a common neurobiological abnormality could underlie cognitive deficits, especially concerning executive functioning, and subtle neurological abnormalities often present in schizophrenia, but they appear to deny that such dysfunctional correlates of schizophrenia are related to a prominent negative symptomatology.
Ein pragmalinguistischer Ansatz zur Beschreibung von Verbalperiphrasen im Spanischen am Beispiel von «ir a + infinitivo»

Apart from the problem of reaching a consensus on a definition, linguists tend to describe the semantic effects of the Spanish verbal periphrases on a «local way», i. e. without taking into account the text and the context in which those appear. The result is the development of heterogeneous «meaninglists», which seems quite disappointing, since it leads to hiding the common semantic denominator. The goal of this paper is to propose a functional description of the Spanish verbal periphrasis «ir a + infinitive». It aims at explaining the different interpretations that arise, which are not (or rarely) analysed thoroughly (even though often mentioned). The hypothesis advanced in this paper is that the argumentative context, where the verbal periphrasis appears, determines the development of the respective semantic effects. This paper is part of an investigation that will take into account other Spanish verbal periphrases. Its ultimate aim is to establish an alternative explanation of the so called pragmatic effects assigned to these analytical verbal constructions which play a central role within the Spanish language.
Is There A Place for Adjuvant Therapy in IVF?

Objectives. To review studies of adjuvant therapies for in vitro fertilization (IVF), and to establish the role of adjuvant therapy for women with repeated failure to conceive with IVF. Design. Review of the literature. Articles were identified through a PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane library, and the national research Register literature search according to preset criteria followed by a cross-reference of published data. Main Outcome Measure(s). Clinical pregnancies and live births. Result(s). Most adjuvant therapies for IVF are empirical, and prescribed without a clear diagnosis of whether the failure to conceive is due to a maternal or fetal factor. Although some randomized controlled trials are available, the results are conflicting. Conclusion(s). No adjuvant therapy has been shown to be definitively advantageous. At present the diagnosis of IVF failure is not specific enough to indicate a certain adjuvant therapy. Hence, some unconfirmed therapies might be highly efficacious for subgroups with particular characteristics. The use of endometrial biopsy with a pipelle is promising, but like other therapies, requires additional testing. Chromosomal aberrations present a confounding factor for maternal adjuvant therapies that are difficult to exclude. Target Audience: Obstetricians & Gynecologist, Family Physicians. Learning Objectives: After completion of this educational activity, the reader will be able to interpret the proven scientifically significant studies of the various forms of adjuvant therapy in IVF. Assess shortcomings in many of the different types of adjuvant therapy and interpret potential dangers in some forms of adjuvant therapy.
A national online survey on the effectiveness of clinical alarms.

PURPOSE To develop a national online survey to be administered by the American College of Clinical Engineers Healthcare Technology Foundation to hospitals and healthcare workers to determine the problems associated with alarms in hospitals. METHODS An online survey was developed by a 16-member task force representing professionals from clinical engineering, nursing, and technology to evaluate the reasons health-care workers do not respond to clinical alarms. RESULTS A total of 1327 persons responded to the survey; most (94%) worked in acute care hospitals. About half of the respondents were registered nurses (51%), and one-third of respondents (31%) worked in a critical care unit. Most respondents (>90%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statements covering the purpose of clinical alarms and the need for prioritized and easily differentiated audible and visual alarms. Likewise, many respondents identified nuisance alarms as problematic; most agreed or strongly agreed that the alarms occur frequently (81%), disrupt patient care (77%), and can reduce trust in alarms and cause caregivers to disable them (78%). CONCLUSIONS Effective clinical alarm management relies on (1) equipment designs that promote appropriate use, (2) clinicians who take an active role in learning how to use equipment safely over its full range of capabilities, and (3) hospitals that recognize the complexities of managing clinical alarms and devote the necessary resources to develop effective management schemes.
The Effect of Information Communication Technology Interventions on Reducing Social Isolation in the Elderly: A Systematic Review

Background The aging of the population is an inexorable change that challenges governments and societies in every developed country. Based on clinical and empirical data, social isolation is found to be prevalent among elderly people, and it has negative consequences on the elderly’s psychological and physical health. Targeting social isolation has become a focus area for policy and practice. Evidence indicates that contemporary information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to prevent or reduce the social isolation of elderly people via various mechanisms. Objective This systematic review explored the effects of ICT interventions on reducing social isolation of the elderly. Methods Relevant electronic databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, MEDLINE, EBSCO, SSCI, Communication Studies: a SAGE Full-Text Collection, Communication & Mass Media Complete, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital Library, and IEEE Xplore) were systematically searched using a unified strategy to identify quantitative and qualitative studies on the effectiveness of ICT-mediated social isolation interventions for elderly people published in English between 2002 and 2015. Narrative synthesis was performed to interpret the results of the identified studies, and their quality was also appraised. Results Twenty-five publications were included in the review. Four of them were evaluated as rigorous research. Most studies measured the effectiveness of ICT by measuring specific dimensions rather than social isolation in general. ICT use was consistently found to affect social support, social connectedness, and social isolation in general positively. The results for loneliness were inconclusive. Even though most were positive, some studies found a nonsignificant or negative impact. More importantly, the positive effect of ICT use on social connectedness and social support seemed to be short-term and did not last for more than six months after the intervention. The results for self-esteem and control over one’s life were consistent but generally nonsignificant. ICT was found to alleviate the elderly’s social isolation through four mechanisms: connecting to the outside world, gaining social support, engaging in activities of interests, and boosting self-confidence. Conclusions More well-designed studies that contain a minimum risk of research bias are needed to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of ICT interventions for elderly people in reducing their perceived social isolation as a multidimensional concept. The results of this review suggest that ICT could be an effective tool to tackle social isolation among the elderly. However, it is not suitable for every senior alike. Future research should identify who among elderly people can most benefit from ICT use in reducing social isolation. Research on other types of ICT (eg, mobile phone–based instant messaging apps) should be conducted to promote understanding and practice of ICT-based social-isolation interventions for elderly people.