The bactericidal activity of moxifloxacin in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Patients in whom acid-fast bacilli smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis was newly diagnosed were randomized to receive 400 mg moxifloxacin, 300 mg isonaizid, or 600 mg rifampin daily for 5 days. Sixteen-hour overnight sputa collections were made for the 2 days before and for 5 days of monotherapy. Bactericidal activity was estimated by the time taken to kill 50% of viable bacilli (vt(50)) and the fall in sputum viable count during the first 2 days designated as the early bactericidal activity (EBA). The mean vt(50) of moxifloxacin was 0.88 days (95% confidence interval [Cl], 0.43-1.33 days) and the mean EBA was 0.53 (95% CI 0.28-0.79). For the isoniazid group, the mean vt(50) was 0.46 days (95% Cl, 0.31-0.61 days) and the mean EBA was 0.77 (95% Cl, 0.54-1.00). For rifampin, the mean vt(50) was 0.71 days (95% Cl, 0.48-0.95 days) and the mean EBA was 0.28 (95% Cl, 0.15-0.41). Using the EBA method, isoniazid was significantly more active than rifampin (p < 0.01) but not moxifloxacin. Using the vt(50) method, isoniazid was more active than both rifampin and moxifloxacin (p = 0.03). Moxifloxacin has an activity similar to rifampin in human subjects with pulmonary tuberculosis, suggesting that it should undergo further assessment as part of a short course regimen for the treatment of drug-susceptible tuberculosis

Acting Surprised: Comparing Perceptions of Different Dynamic Deliberate Expressions

People are accurate at classifying emotions from facial expressions but much poorer at determining if such expressions are spontaneously felt or deliberately posed. We explored if the method used by senders to produce an expression influences the decoder’s ability to discriminate authenticity, drawing inspiration from two well-known acting techniques: the Stanislavski (internal) and Mimic method (external). We compared spontaneous surprise expressions in response to a jack-in-the-box (genuine condition), to posed displays of senders who either focused on their past affective state (internal condition) or the outward expression (external condition). Although decoders performed better than chance at discriminating the authenticity of all expressions, their accuracy was lower in classifying external surprise compared to internal surprise. Decoders also found it harder to discriminate external surprise from spontaneous surprise and were less confident in their decisions, perceiving these to be similarly intense but less genuine-looking. The findings suggest that senders are capable of voluntarily producing genuine-looking expressions of emotions with minimal effort, especially by mimicking a genuine expression. Implications for research on emotion recognition are discussed

PDSTD - The Portsmouth Dynamic Spontaneous Tears Database

The vast majority of research on human emotional tears has relied on posed and static stimulus materials. In this paper, we introduce the Portsmouth Dynamic Spontaneous Tears Database (PDSTD), a free resource comprising video recordings of 24 female encoders depicting a balanced representation of sadness stimuli with and without tears. Encoders watched a neutral film and a self-selected sad film and reported their emotional experience for 9 emotions. Extending this initial validation, we obtained norming data from an independent sample of naïve observers (N = 91, 45 females) who watched videos of the encoders during three time phases (neutral, pre-sadness, sadness), yielding a total of 72 validated recordings. Observers rated the expressions during each phase on 7 discrete emotions, negative and positive valence, arousal, and genuineness. All data were analyzed by means of general linear mixed modelling (GLMM) to account for sources of random variance. Our results confirm the successful elicitation of sadness, and demonstrate the presence of a tear effect, i.e., a substantial increase in perceived sadness for spontaneous dynamic weeping. To our knowledge, the PDSTD is the first database of spontaneously elicited dynamic tears and sadness that is openly available to researchers. The stimuli can be accessed free of charge via OSF from https://osf.io/uyjeg/?view_only=24474ec8d75949ccb9a8243651db0abf

HIV positive and treated for cancer: The convergence of pressures "invisible" in HIV and "visible" in cancer

OBJECTIVE: An increasing number of people living with HIV are living longer and experiencing a dual diagnosis of HIV and cancer. Little is known of their experience and quality of care. This paper presents the findings of a study exploring experiences of cancer care, from the perspectives of both patients and healthcare professionals. METHODS: Thematic analysis of participant narratives provided in longitudinal, semi-structured interviews with 17 people, recruited from three London sites between 2015 and 2017. Focused ethnography comprising 27 hr of participant observation and seven semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals. RESULTS: Both HIV and cancer have a powerful, combined impact; in cancer, the impact is visible; in HIV, it is generally hidden. Patients and staff experienced particular challenges in the cancer setting. Patients felt responsible for their HIV management and described being excluded from clinical trials. Both staff and patients encountered difficulties around the management of information relating to HIV. CONCLUSION: This dual diagnosis has a profound and negative effect on patients' experiences and potential outcomes. Improvement depends on interventions that acknowledge the shared social narrative and impact of HIV-related stigma so that this burden is not carried by the patient alone

Sustainability performance measurement : a preliminary classification framework of models and indicators

In this position paper we focus on the diversity of sustainability measurements. Based on existing research on performance measurement, we propose a preliminary classification framework summarizing sustainability models and indicators. By describing illustrative examples, we claim that several models and indicators can be distinguished with their own peculiarities. Having such a framework is interesting for both academia and business to structure the range of models and indicators and to ultimately select the appropriate sustainability measurement approach. The proposed framework should be validated by further research

Effectiveness of an Empathic Chatbot in Combating Adverse Effects of Social Exclusion on Mood

From past research it is well known that social exclusion has detrimental consequences for mental health. To deal with these adverse effects, socially excluded individuals frequently turn to other humans for emotional support. While chatbots can elicit social and emotional responses on the part of the human interlocutor, their effectiveness in the context of social exclusion has not been investigated. In the present study, we examined whether an empathic chatbot can serve as a buffer against the adverse effects of social ostracism. After experiencing exclusion on social media, participants were randomly assigned to either talk with an empathetic chatbot about it (e.g., “I’m sorry that this happened to you”) or a control condition where their responses were merely acknowledged (e.g., “Thank you for your feedback”). Replicating previous research, results revealed that experiences of social exclusion dampened the mood of participants. Interacting with an empathetic chatbot, however, appeared to have a mitigating impact. In particular, participants in the chatbot intervention condition reported higher mood than those in the control condition. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications, as well as directions for future research are discussed

Description and Predictive Factors of individual outcomes in a refugee camp based mental health intervention (Beirut, Lebanon)

There is little evidence on the effectiveness of services for the care of people with mental disorders among refugee populations. Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) has established a mental health centre in a mixed urban-refugee population in Beirut to respond to the significant burden of mental health problems. Patients received comprehensive care through a multidisciplinary team. A cohort of people with common and severe mental disorders has been analysed between December 2008 and June 2011 to evaluate individual outcomes of treatment in terms of functionality

Clustering methods for Mode S stations: Evaluation and perspectives

Grouping of a set of Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) Mode S stations into functional entities called clusters has significant operational facets; it calls for a constrained optimization, an important significant constraint being the scarcity of Interrogation Identifier (II) codes. This clustering problem can be approached by two ways, i.e., integer programming methods and heuristic approaches. The definition of a general, usable decision support tool to build up and evaluate clustering strategies in any operational airspace, e.g. the one of a nation or, even more complicated, of a system such as the European one, is a very challenging task. This paper describes some steps toward this envisaged result proposing a mathematical formulation and a heuristic approach for the problem

The loss of the tumour-suppressor miR-145 results in the shorter disease-free survival of prostate cancer patients

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is characterised by great heterogeneity of the disease progression rate. Tumours range from insignificant and not life threatening to high risk for relapse ones. Consequently, a large number of patients undergo unnecessary treatment. miR-145 is a well-documented tumour suppressor and its expression, which is regulated by the p53 pathway, has been found to be decreased in the majority of human malignancies. The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical utility of miR-145 for the prognostication of PCa. Methods: Total RNA was isolated from 137 prostate tissue specimens obtained from 73 radical prostatectomy-treated PCa patients and 64 transurethral- or open prostatectomy-treated benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) patients. Following polyadenylation and reverse transcription, miR-145 levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR assay, using SNORD48 (RNU48) for normalisation purposes. Results: Downregulated miR-145 expression was found in PCa compared with BPH patients. The reduction of miR-145 expression in PCa was correlated with higher Gleason score, advanced clinical stage, larger tumour diameter and higher prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and follow-up PSA levels. In addition, higher risk for biochemical recurrence and significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) was found for the PCa patients expressing lower miR-145. Focusing on ‘low- and intermediate-recurrence risk’ PCa patients, miR-145 loss was revealed to be a reliable predictor of biochemical relapse and poor DFS independent from Gleason score, clinical stage, PSA and patients’ age. Conclusion: The loss of the tumour-suppressor miR-145 increases the risk for disease progression and predicts the poor survival of PCa patients