Plos One
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The Nurses Work Functioning Questionnaire (NWFQ) is a 50-item self-report questionnaire specifically developed for nurses and allied health professionals. Its seven subscales measure impairments in the work functioning due to common mental disorders. Aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the NWFQ, by assessing reproducibility and construct validity. ⋯ The NWFQ demonstrates good psychometric properties, for six of the seven subscales. Subscale "impaired decision making" needs improvement before further use.
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We tested the hypothesis that 5-Hydroxydecanoic acid (5HD), a putative mitoK(ATP) channel blocker, will reverse sepsis-induced cardiodynamic and adult rat ventricular myocyte (ARVM) contractile dysfunction, restore mitochondrial membrane permeability alterations and improve survival. ⋯ The data suggest that Bax activation is an upstream event that may precede the opening of the mitoK(ATP) channels in sepsis. We concluded that mitoK(ATP) channel inhibition via decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and reduced release of cytochrome C provided protection against sepsis-induced ARVM and myocardial contractile dysfunction.
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Since the early 2000s, aid organizations and developing country governments have invested heavily in AIDS treatment. By 2010, more than five million people began receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART)--yet each year, 2.7 million people are becoming newly infected and another two million are dying without ever having received treatment. As the need for treatment grows without commensurate increase in the amount of available resources, it is critical to assess the health and economic gains being realized from increasingly large investments in ART. ⋯ This investment is expected to save 18.5 million life-years and return $12 to $34 billion through increased labor productivity, averted orphan care, and deferred medical treatment for opportunistic infections and end-of-life care. Under alternative assumptions regarding the labor productivity effects of HIV infection, AIDS disease, and ART, the monetary benefits range from 81 percent to 287 percent of program costs over the same period. These results suggest that, in addition to the large health gains generated, the economic benefits of treatment will substantially offset, and likely exceed, program costs within 10 years of investment.
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Yellow fever vaccination (YF-17D) can cause serious adverse events (SAEs). The mechanism of these SAEs is poorly understood. Older age has been identified as a risk factor. We tested the hypothesis that the humoral immune response to yellow fever vaccine develops more slowly in elderly than in younger subjects. ⋯ We found that elderly subjects had a delayed antibody response and higher viraemia levels after yellow fever primovaccination. We postulate that with older age, a weaker immune response to yellow fever vaccine allows the attenuated virus to cause higher viraemia levels which may increase the risk of developing SAEs. This may be one piece in the puzzle of the pathophysiology of YEL-AVD.
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To prospectively evaluate the performance of Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Protein (LBP) in prediction of hospital mortality and its correlation to C-reactive Protein (CRP), we studied sixty consecutive, postoperative patients with sepsis admitted to the university hospital intensive care unit. ⋯ During the first 14 days of postoperative sepsis, LBP plasma concentrations showed a time course that was very similar to CRP with a high concordance in the pattern of day-to-day changes. Furthermore, like CRP, LBP does not provide a reliable clue for outcome in this setting.