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The article reports on ways that help improve quality of life and pain management in patients with neuropathic pain. It mentions that neuropathic pain encompasses postherpetic neuralgia, painful diabetic neuropathy and radiculopathy and highlights adverse effects associated with various drugs that are used for treating neuropathic pain such as pregabalin, tricyclic antidepressants and opioids. It also presents questions and answers related to clinical pharmacy and how to limit adverse effects.

The article discusses architectural plans drafted by Charles and Claude Perrault for French King Louis XIV. The brothers were commissioned to design fountains for the gardens at the château de Versailles in the 1660s. Topics discussed include Charles's position as secretary of the Petite Académie, his relationship with politician Jean Baptiste Colbert, and his relationship with artist Charles Le Brun. The article also discusses architectural designs for the Grotte de Thétys, including its statues, as well as its literary symbolism.

The article discusses the evolution of the concept of urban resilience and presents key elements of the debate concerning the adoption of the term resilience by international organizations such as the United Nations to show how this concept can initiate a response to the transformation of contemporary cities. The concept of resilience as a potential new model for risk management and the concept of vulnerability introduced in 1976 are mentioned. Topics include resiliency in relation to urban development, the relationship of resilience to culture and identity, the ambiguity of resilience, and resilience used as a political tool to impose urban policy during crises and disasters.

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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have immunomodulatory effects and low immunogenicity. MSCs inhibit T-cell alloreactivity in vitro. Immune inhibition is caused by soluble factors. MSCs affect almost all cells of the immune system. They are safe to infuse in humans with no acute toxicity and no ectopic tissue formation. We treated patients with life-threatening acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) not responding to conventional immunosuppressive therapy with MSCs. Approximately half of the patients responded. HLA-identical or third party MSCs were equally effective. Children tended to have a better response compared to adults. MSCs have also been used for chronic GVHD with positive effects. MSCs also reversed tissue toxicity such as hemorrhagic cystitis, pneumomediastinum and colon perforation with peritonitis. A patient with extensive hemorrhages was successfully treated with repeated doses of MSCs pooled from two donors. This may indicate that MSCs apart from wound healing may stimulate clotting and vasoconstriction. To conclude, MSCs is a novel treatment that may be used for GVHD, tissue toxicity and hemorrhages because of its immune inhibitory and anti-inflammatory effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The impact of emergency department length of stay (EDLOS) on outcome in critically ill patients is debatable. The factors that impact on mortality and the measures to improve survival have been widely studied. However, the association between EDLOS and outcome in the group of critically ill patients with severe sepsis requiring intensive care has not been investigated. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study over a 3-year period in a metropolitan 360-bed teaching hospital that has a 10-bed general intensive care unit (ICU). Adult patients presenting to emergency department during the study period with severe sepsis requiring ICU admission were included. The effect of EDLOS on in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit length of stay (ICULOS) and hospital length of stay (HLOS) was investigated. Results: During the study period 117 patients were admitted to ICU from the emergency department (ED) with severe sepsis. The mean age of the patients was 64.7 years and the sex ratio was comparable (51% male patients). The mean APACHE II score was 18.3. The median EDLOS was 8.3 hours. The median ICULOS and HLOS were 3 and 12 days respectively. The hospital mortality was 21.3%. There was no association between EDLOS and in-hospital mortality, ICULOS or HLOS. Conclusion: Our study revealed that in patients with severe sepsis, the duration of EDLOS had no effect on in-hospital mortality, ICULOS or HLOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Socialist Studies is the property of Society for Socialist Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ecoscience (Ecoscience) is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A large sample of 33 000 university alumni records were cluster-analyzed to generate six groups relatively unique in their respective attribute values. The attributes used to cluster the former students included average gift to the university's foundation and to the alumni association for the same institution. Cluster detection is useful in this application because there are very likely natural groupings that may represent segments of alumni that have much in common, and for which customized marketing approaches are justified. The clustering generated six groups of sizes ranging from eight to more than 25 000 records. Once the groups were established, discriminant analysis evaluated the difference(s) between the a priori determined and mutually exclusive giving groups. The first four groups provided the foundation with a disproportionate share (88 percent) of its major gifts, while the last two groups afforded the alumni association with the largest part (88.3 percent) of its annual funds. The discriminant model predicted with 100 percent accuracy the membership of the extreme groups (Group 1 and Group 6), with an overall predictive accuracy of 98 percent. The same model calculated membership in Group 2 and Group 5 with accuracy of 94.9 percent and 91.3 percent, respectively. Other numbers of groups were attempted, including five groups and seven groups, but no other number of clusters gave the clear distinction between groups, as did six clusters. The analysis further investigated two particular groups for their giving to the annual fund of the alumni association. These two groups comprised 98 percent of the sample, and could be characterized as one group that contributed substantially and another that did not. The findings provide a basis for marketing communication efforts aimed at specific niches within the groups based on giving patterns and demographics. As per the Pareto Principle, one cluster accounts for 63.7 percent (almost two-thirds) of contributions to the alumni's annual fund from only 20.1 percent of the sample alumni, giving an average of US$111 annually and making more than eight gifts since graduation. The gift amounts from members of this cluster to the annual fund are in relatively small parcels, with 95 percent of the contributions averaging less than $250. The largest cluster with 78.3 percent of the entire sample can be characterized as non-contributors to both the annual fund and the foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the immune response of donor T lymphocytes responding to the recipient''s alloantigens. The cellular and cytokine mechanisms driving GVHD are now well defined and have led to several prophylactic approaches. Selective allodepletion techniques promise to prevent GVHD without causing immune deficiency provoked by global T-cell depletion. Targeted dosing of other (non-T-cells) cells in the graft – such as CD34+ progenitors, regulatory T cells, natural killer cells and mesenchymal stromal cells – can also lead to transplants designed to retain immune capability without causing GVHD. Immunosuppressive drugs such as methotrexate, cyclosporine and anti-lymphocyte antibodies are the mainstay in the prevention of GVHD and can be used in conjunction with engineered grafts to eliminate GVHD. In future it is anticipated that further refinements in targeting the elimination or suppression of the GVHD reacting T cells should be selective enough to preserve the important graft-versus-leukemia effect which contributes to the cure of malignant diseases by allogeneic stem-cell transplantation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article offers information on the launch of fourth edition of event La Nuit de la Géographie to be held in France on April 3, 2020.

A model of music preference theory suggests ways that teachers can broaden their students' musical preferences. Teachers can change preferences by changing something in the listener, the social environment, the music, or the ways that the listener processes information. (AM)

Copyright of Psychologie du Travail et des Organisations is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Studies the immunologic properties of undifferentiated and differentiated human fetal mesenchymal stem cells. Data showing that undifferentiated and differentiated mesenchymal stem cells do not elicit alloreactive lymphocyte proliferation; Potential of mesenchymal stem cells for allogenic transplantation.

Examines ways of discovering culture and learning language in the French second-language classroom using imaginative student-centered activities focused on the Acadian culture. Definition of culture; Team work underlying the Historical Tableaux lesson involving theatrical presentations; Key components of an integrated framework for a second-language classroom; Principles underlying the cooperative learning approach; Lesson plan format for the classroom.

Focuses on research activities aimed at providing Web-based nutrition education for tri-ethnic adult population in the Upper Rio Grande Valley in Colorado and New Mexico. Web site design; Assessment of community technology and findings from focus groups; Results of the testing of community-based methods for training adults in computer skills.