Hand Performance Assessed by Functional Dexterity Test Correlates With Clinical Disease Activity but Remains Altered in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Achieving Treatment Goals: A Cross-Sectional Cohort Study.

Objectives: Direct hand function is not commonly evaluated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The Functional Dexterity Test (FDT) assesses a patient's ability to use the hand for daily tasks and is an accepted quantitative assessment tool in occupational medicine. This pilot study aimed to examine the correlations of FDT-measured hand performance with disease activity status in a cohort of RA patients.

A self-help intervention for reducing time to diagnosis in Indonesian women with breast cancer symptoms.

Objective: We investigated the effectiveness of a self-help intervention named PERANTARA, which aims to improve adherence to diagnostic procedures among women with breast cancer (BC) symptoms to reduce the time to a definitive diagnosis.

Methods: With a cluster randomized crossover design across four hospitals, PERANTARA and treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU only was provided at successive periods in a randomly determined order. The main outcome was the time between the first medical consultation and the definitive diagnosis.

Using the virtual action planning-supermarket for evaluating executive functions in people with stroke.

Background: Our objectives are (1) to establish construct validity by comparing task performance with the Virtual Action Planning-Supermarket (VAP-S) by patients with stroke to healthy matched control subjects, (2) to establish concurrent validity by exploring relationships between VAP-S performance and Executive Functions (EFs) and ecological validity by exploring relationships between VAP-S performance and the Observed Tasks of Daily Living-Revised (OTDL-R), a measure of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), and (3) to determine which measures predict IADL performance in patients with stroke.

Methods: The research group included 24 men and women, aged 44-65 years, poststroke and the control group included 24 matched healthy people. The VAP-S and the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS) were administered to evaluate EF.

Application of visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (Vis/NIRS) to determine carotenoid contents in banana (Musa spp.) fruit pulp.

The analysis of carotenoids is complicated by the tendency of these compounds to react with radical species, leading to oxidative breakdown and isomerization during extraction. Therefore, protocols should be rapid and avoid unnecessary exposure to heat, acids, and so forth. Here, we evaluate the use of visible and near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (Vis/NIRS) to measure carotenoid contents in fruit from 28 Musa (banana and plantain) varieties.

Students' and teachers' cognitions about good teachers.

Background: Good teachers have been studied ever since Plato described how Socrates taught by asking questions of his audience. Recent findings shed light on two characteristics of good teachers: their personality and their ability. However, more attention has been paid to teachers' practices and opinions than to students' views.