nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Effects of Campomanesia xanthocarpa on biochemical, hematological and oxidative stress parameters in hypercholesterolemic patients.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE
In Southern Brazil, the plant Campomanesia xanthocarpa Berg. (Myrtaceae), popularly known as "guavirova", has been empirically used for its potential effect in reducing blood cholesterol levels.



Since there are no scientific data confirming its popular use, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of Campomanesia xanthocarpa on biochemical, hematological, anthropometrical and oxidative stress parameters in hypercholesterolemic patients.



Thirty three patients were selected according to total cholesterol (TC) levels: 200-240 mg/dL, undesirable level (UL), and >240 mg/dL, hypercholesterolemic level (HL). UL or HL patients were randomly divided into control group (CG), which received placebo capsules, and experimental group 250 (EG 250) or 500 (EG 500), which received either 250 or 500 mg of encapsulated Campomanesia xanthocarpa. All groups received a cholesterol restriction diet and capsules once a day. The biochemical (TC, triglycerides, HDL, LDL and VLDL), hematological (hematocrit and hemoglobin), anthropometrical (weight and abdominal circumference) and oxidative stress (protein carbonyl) parameters were measured before, 45 and 90 days after the treatment started.



There was no alteration on biochemical, hematological, anthropometric or oxidative stress parameters in UL patients of all groups. However, a significant decrease in TC and LDL levels was observed in HL patients from EG 500 group (reduction of 28+/-3% and 45+/-4% to levels before treatment) in relation to CG group patients (reduction of 12+/-2% and 29+/-4%). Moreover, a significant reduction in oxidative stress was observed in HL patients of EG 250 (51+/-12%) and EG 500 groups (34+/-18%) when compared to levels before treatment. A positive correlation between plasma oxidative stress PC and TC levels was observed. Finally, we found that Campomanesia xanthocarpa extract possesses anti-oxidant properties and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitory activity in vitro.



Confirming its popular use, the treatment with Campomanesia xanthocarpa encapsulated reduced blood TC and LDL levels in hypercholesterolemic patients.
Long-term effects of 6-week whole-body vibration on balance recovery and activities of daily living in the postacute phase of stroke: a randomized, controlled trial.

The long-term effects of 6-weeks whole-body vibration, as a novel method of somatosensory stimulation, on postural control and activities of daily living were compared with those of 6 weeks of exercise therapy on music of the same intensity in the postacute phase of stroke.



Fifty-three patients with moderate to severe functional disabilities were randomized within 6 weeks poststroke and within 3 days after admission to a rehabilitation center to either whole-body vibration or exercise therapy on music in addition to a regular inpatient rehabilitation program. The whole-body vibration group received 4x45-second stimulation on the Galileo 900 (30-Hz frontal plane oscillations of 3-mm amplitude) for 5 days per week during 6 weeks. The exercise therapy on music group received the same amount of exercise therapy on music. Outcome variables included the Berg Balance Scale, Trunk Control Test, Rivermead Mobility Index, Barthel Index, Functional Ambulation Categories, Motricity Index, and somatosensory threshold at 0, 6, and 12 weeks follow up.



At baseline, both groups were comparable in terms of prognostic factors and outcome measures. Both at 6 and 12 weeks follow up, no clinically relevant or statistical differences in outcome were observed between the groups. No side effects were reported.



Daily sessions of whole-body vibration during 6 weeks are not more effective in terms of recovery of balance and activities of daily living than the same amount of exercise therapy on music in the postacute phase of stroke.
Factors Influencing Pathologic Results after Total Mesorectal Excision for Rectal Cancer: Analysis of Consecutive 100 Cases

The aim of this study was to analyze clinical and anatomical factors affecting the pathologic quality of the resected specimen after total mesorectal excision (TME) for rectal cancer. A total of 100 patients who underwent TME for mid or low rectal cancer were evaluated prospectively. MRI pelvimetry data (transverse diameter, obstetric conjugate, interspinous distance, sacrum length, and sacrum depth) were analyzed as anatomically affecting factors to postoperative specimen quality. Sex, body mass index (BMI), type of surgery, tumor size, and tumor distance from the anal verge were analyzed as clinically affecting factors. The gross judgment of resected specimen, circumferential resection margin and the number of harvested lymph nodes were used to access postoperative specimen quality. The univariate and multivariate analysis showed that narrow obstetric conjugate and shorter interspinous distance were related to the inadequate quality of the mesorectum in the specimen (P = 0.022, P = 0.030). Interspinous distance was a predicting factor of a positive circumferential resection margin (P = 0.007). There were no clinical factors affecting the inadequate quality of the mesorectum or positive circumferential resection margin. Moreover, there were no clinico-anatomical factors affecting the number of harvested lymph nodes after TME. Narrow obstetric conjugate and shorter interspinous distance were factors leading to poor postoperative specimen quality. Rectal cancer patients with narrow obstetric conjugate or shorter interspinous distance should be considered as high-risk patients with regard to specimen quality, which is in turn related to oncological outcome.
Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial comparing mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with maintenance anti-depressant treatment in the prevention of depressive relapse/recurrence: the PREVENT trial

Depression is a common and distressing mental health problem that is responsible for significant individual disability and cost to society. Medication and psychological therapies are effective for treating depression and maintenance anti-depressants (m-ADM) can prevent relapse. However, individuals with depression often express a wish for psychological help that can help them recover from depression in the long-term. We need to develop psychological therapies that prevent depressive relapse/recurrence. A recently developed treatment, Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT, see http://www.mbct.co.uk) shows potential as a brief group programme for people with recurring depression. In two studies it has been shown to halve the rates of depression recurring compared to usual care.This trial asks the policy research question, is MBCT superior to m-ADM in terms of: a primary outcome of preventing depressive relapse/recurrence over 24 months; and, secondary outcomes of (a) depression free days, (b) residual depressive symptoms, (c) antidepressant (ADM) usage, (d) psychiatric and medical co-morbidity, (e) quality of life, and (f) cost effectiveness? An explanatory research question asks is an increase in mindfulness skills the key mechanism of change?



The design is a single blind, parallel RCT examining MBCT vs. m-ADM with an embedded process study. To answer the main policy research question the proposed trial compares MBCT plus ADM-tapering with m-ADM for patients with recurrent depression. Four hundred and twenty patients with recurrent major depressive disorder in full or partial remission will be recruited through primary care. Depressive relapse/recurrence over two years is the primary outcome variable. The explanatory question will be addressed in two mutually informative ways: quantitative measurement of potential mediating variables pre/post-treatment and a qualitative study of service users' views and experiences.



If the results of our exploratory trial are extended to this definitive trial, MBCT will be established as an alternative approach to maintenance anti-depressants for people with a history of recurrent depression. The process studies will provide evidence about the effective components which can be used to improve MBCT and inform theory as well as other therapeutic approaches.
Muscle Strength, But Not Muscle Oxidative Capacity, Varies Between the Morning and the Afternoon in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study.

Despite frequent muscle strength or muscle oxidative capacity (based on exercise-onset oxygen uptake [VO2] kinetics) assessments in patients with multiple sclerosis, the impact of time of day on these parameters is often not taken into account. Based on observations in healthy subjects, it remains to be studied whether muscle strength, and/or exercise-onset VO2 kinetics, varies between the morning and the afternoon in patients with multiple sclerosis. In this prospective observational pilot study, walking capacity, exercise-onset VO2 kinetics, isometric knee extension/flexion strength (dynamometry), and self-reported fatigue were measured in 11 patients with multiple sclerosis (age, 51.8 ± 9.3 yrs; body mass index, 24.7 ± 5.1 kg/m; Expanded Disability Status Scale, 3.5 ± 1.4; 3 men) in the morning and 5 hrs later (afternoon). In the afternoon, self-reported fatigue (1.9 ± 0.9 cm) and muscle strength (knee extension peak torque at 45 degrees, 84 ± 26 Nm) were significantly different (P < 0.05), than in the morning (self-reported fatigue, 1.2 ± 0.9 cm; knee extension peak torque at 45 degrees, 93 ± 32 Nm), but walking capacity and exercise-onset VO2 kinetics were similar at these two time points (P > 0.05). Consistent with observations in healthy subjects, muscle strength varies between the morning and the afternoon in patients with multiple sclerosis, under the conditions of the present study. These findings suggest that muscle strength assessments should be conducted at similar or nearly similar times of the day to minimize diurnal variation in these measures and hence insure correct interpretation.
The reliability and validity of the Oppositional Defiant Behavior Inventory

The aim of this study was to develop an evaluation scale for use as a supplementary tool for the diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The subjects were 98 Japanese children (91 males and 7 females), aged 6–15 years, diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or ODD. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, concurrent validity and divergent validity of the oppositional defiant behavior inventory (ODBI), an evaluation scale of oppositional defiant tendency, were examined. Cronbach’s α coefficient of the ODBI was 0.925. The correlation coefficient between the test and the retest was 0.820 (p < 0.0001). Both the ODBI scores (test and retest) were correlated with the number of items that matched the ODD diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV (r = 0.660, 0.659, p < 0.001), and with the ODD-scale of Disruptive Behavior Disorders Rating Scale (r = 0.725, 0.654, p < 0.001). Compared with the ADHD group or controls, the ADHD and ODD group showed a significantly higher ODBI score at p < 0.0001. The concurrent use of this scale with clinical examination is expected to increase the accuracy of the diagnosis of ODD.
Entrepreneurship education: A strength-based approach to substance use and suicide prevention for American Indian adolescents.

American Indian (AI) adolescents suffer the largest disparities in substance use and suicide. Predominating prevention models focus primarily on risk and utilize deficit-based approaches. The fields of substance use and suicide prevention research urge for positive youth development frameworks that are strength based and target change at individual and community levels. Entrepreneurship education is an innovative approach that reflects the gap in available programs. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a youth entrepreneurship education program in partnership with one AI community. We detail the curriculum, process evaluation results, and the randomized controlled trial evaluating its efficacy for increasing protective factors. Lessons learned may be applicable to other AI communities.
Quality of life in swallowing of the elderly patients affected by stroke.

- The elderly population faces many difficulties as a result of the aging process. Conceptualize and evaluate their life quality is a challenge, being hard to characterize the impact on daily activities and on functional capacity. The stroke is one of the most disabling neurological diseases, becoming a public health problem. As an aggravating result, there is dysphagia, a disorder that compromises the progression of the food from the mouth to the stomach, causing clinical complications to the individual.



- Characterize the life quality of the elderly swallowing affected by stroke.



- Cross-sectional study conducted at the University Hospital, attended by 35 elderly with stroke, being 19 women and 16 men, with age between 60 and 90 years old, that self-reported satisfactory overall clinical picture. It was applied the Quality of Life Swallowing protocol. The data were statistically analyzed, by means of ANOVA tests, Spearman correlation, t test, with significance level of 5%.



- The mean age was 69.5 years; as for the scores obtained by the 35 participants in the 11 domains of the protocol, it was observed a change in score indicating severe to moderate impact in quality of life related to self-reported swallowing (31.8% to 59.5%); the domain that most interfered was the feeding time (31.8%).



- Elderly affected by stroke that present dysphagia has low scores in quality of life related to swallowing.
Evaluating the validity of self-reported smoking in Mexican adolescents

We aimed to evaluate the validity of the self-reported smoking indicator used in the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS).



43 middle and high-school classrooms from 26 schools were selected from Mexico City and Cuernavaca, Morelos.



A total of 1257 students provided both a questionnaire and a urine sample.



Sensitivity and specificity of self-reported smoking compared to urinary cotinine. Validity indices were evaluated by subgroups of gender, social acceptability of smoking (ie, smoking parents or friends) and smoking frequency.



Sensitivity and specificity for current smoking were 93.2% and 81.7%, respectively. Validity indices remained stable across gender. Parental smoking status moderated the validity of self-report, which had lower sensitivity in adolescents with non-smoking parents (86.7%) than in adolescents with smoking parents (96.6%). Sensitivity and specificity increased with smoking frequency.



This first validation study of self-reported current smoking used in the GYTS among Mexican adolescents suggests that self-reported smoking in the past 30 days is a valid and stable indicator of current smoking behaviour. This measure appears suitable for public health research and surveillance.
Ranolazine improves endothelial function in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

We investigated the effect of ranolazine on endothelial-dependent vasodilatation (EDV), serum markers of endothelial dysfunction, and inflammation.



Endothelial dysfunction has been shown to be independently associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events. We sought to investigate whether ranolazine, a novel antianginal medication with no effect on heart rate or blood pressure, improves endothelial function in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD).



Twenty-seven patients with stable CAD were randomly assigned to either 1000 mg twice daily of ranolazine or to matching placebo for 6 weeks and then crossed over for an additional 6 weeks in a double-blind design. EDV was assessed using reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT) at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks. Markers of endothelial dysfunction and inflammation were also evaluated.



After 6 weeks, treatment with ranolazine significantly increased the EDV RH-PAT index as compared with baseline (1.85+/-0.42 vs. 2.08+/-0.57, P = 0.037). EDV RH-PAT did not change while on placebo (1.69+/-0.35 vs. 1.78+/-0.41, P = 0.29). In addition, there was a significant drop in asymmetric dimethylarginine levels with ranolazine treatment (0.66+/-0.12 vs. 0.60+/-0.11 micromol/l, P = 0.02) and a near significant decrease in C-reactive protein levels (0.40+/-0.80 vs. 0.30+/-0.61 mg/dl, P = 0.05).



Ranolazine improves endothelial function, asymmetric dimethylarginine, and C-reactive protein levels in a group of patients with stable CAD. Our results suggest a novel mechanism of action of ranolazine.
Pain in children with cerebral palsy: a cross-sectional multicentre European study.

To determine the prevalence and associations of self-reported and parent-reported pain in children with cerebral palsy (CP) of all severities.



Cross-sectional design using a questionnaire; analysis using ordinal regression. Children aged 8-12 years were randomly selected from population-based registers of children with CP in eight European regions; a further region recruited 75 children from multiple sources. Outcome measures were pain in the previous week among children who could self-report and parents' perception of their child's pain in the previous 4 weeks.



Data on pain were available from 490 children who could self-report and parents of 806 children (those who could and could not self-report). The estimated population prevalence of self-reported pain in the previous week was 60% (95% CI: 54-65%) and that of parent-reported pain in the previous 4 weeks was 73% (95% CI: 69-76%). In self-reporting children, older children reported more pain but pain was not significantly associated with severity of impairment. In parent reports, severity of child impairment, seizures and parental unemployment were associated with more frequent and severe pain.



Pain in children with CP is common. Clinicians should enquire about pain and consider appropriate physical, therapeutic or psychological management.
The Bipolar Prodrome Symptom Interview and Scale-Prospective (BPSS-P): description and validation in a psychiatric sample and healthy controls.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Bipolar Prodrome Symptom Interview and Scale-Prospective (BPSS-P), the first specific interview for emerging bipolar disorder (BD) symptoms.



A total of 205 youth aged 12-23 years and/or their caregivers underwent BPSS-P interviews: 129 patients with mood spectrum disorders [depression spectrum disorder (n = 77), mood disorder not otherwise specified (NOS) (n = 27), BD-NOS (n = 14), bipolar I disorder (BD-I)/bipolar II disorder (BD-II)/cyclothymia (n = 11), 34 with non-mood spectrum disorders, and 42 healthy controls (HCs)]. We used Cronbach's α to assess internal consistency; intra-class correlation (ICC) for inter-rater reliability; Spearman's rho for convergent validity with the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), General Behavior Inventory-10-item Mania Form (GBI-M-10), and Cyclothymic-Hypersensitive Temperament (CHT) scale; and analysis of variance for discriminatory power between diagnostic groups.



Internal consistency was good to very good for the BPSS-P Mania (Cronbach's α = 0.87), Depression (Cronbach's α = 0.89), and General Symptom indices (Cronbach's α = 0.74). Inter-rater reliability was high for the BPSS-P Total score (ICC = 0.939), and BPSS-P Mania (ICC = 0.934), Depression (ICC = 0.985), and General (ICC = 0.981) indices. Convergent validity was large (ρ ≥ 0.50) between the BPSS-P Mania Index and YMRS, GBI-M-10, and CHT; BPSS-P Depression Index and Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and CHT; and BPSS-P General Index and GBI-M-10 and CHT. Expectedly, convergent validity was small (ρ = 0.10 to < 0.30) between the BPSS-P Mania Index and MADRS, and BPSS-P Depression Index and YMRS. Furthermore, the BPSS-P and its subscales discriminated each patient group from HCs and from non-mood spectrum patients (except for the BPSS-P General Index). Moreover, the BPSS-P Total score discriminated BD-I/BD-II/cyclothymia from depression spectrum patients, and the BPSS-Mania Index differentiated all three bipolar spectrum groups from depression spectrum patients.



The BPSS-P has good to excellent psychometric properties. Its use across multiple settings and predictive validity requires further investigation.
Pharmacogenetics of Naltrexone in Asian Americans: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Laboratory Study

Recent clinical and laboratory studies have shown that the effects of naltrexone for alcoholism may be moderated by the Asn40Asp single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the μ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1). Allele frequencies for this polymorphism, however, have been shown to vary substantially as a function of ethnic background, such that individuals of Asian descent are more likely to carry the minor (Asp40) allele. The objective of this study is to test the naltrexone pharmacogenetic effects of the Asn40Asp SNP in a sample of Asian Americans. This study consists of a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled laboratory trial of naltrexone. Participants (n=35, 10 females; 13 Asn40Asn and 22 Asp40 carriers) were non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers recruited from the community. After taking naltrexone or placebo, participants completed an intravenous alcohol administration session. The primary outcome measures were subjective intoxication and alcohol craving. Results suggested that Asp40 carriers experienced greater alcohol-induced sedation, subjective intoxication, and lower alcohol craving on naltrexone, as compared to placebo, and to Asn40 homozygotes. There results were maintained when controlling for ALDH2 (rs671) and ADH1B (rs1229984) markers and when examining the three levels of OPRM1 genotype, thereby supporting an OPRM1 gene dose response. These findings provide a much-needed extension of previous studies of naltrexone pharmacogenetics to individuals of Asian descent, an ethnic group more likely to express the minor allele putatively associated with improved biobehavioral and clinical response to this medication. These findings help further delineate the biobehavioral mechanisms of naltrexone and its pharmacogenetics.